Sezione Archeologica dei Musei Civici (Palazzo dei Giuristi)

The Archaeological Section of Belluno's Civic Museums is housed in two ground-floor rooms of Palazzo dei Giuristi, the city's first civic museum seat from 1876. Its holdings trace human presence in the Valbelluna from the Middle Palaeolithic to the early Middle Ages.

Why it matters

The collection reflects archaeological work carried out in the region from the late nineteenth century onward. It places prehistoric burials, Iron Age finds, Roman inscriptions and Lombard-era tomb groups within the longer history of Belluno and its valley.

What to notice

Among the collection's distinctive objects is the burial from Val Cismon, dated to the end of the Upper Palaeolithic about 12,000 years ago, with stones painted in red ochre covering the grave. Finds from a necropolis near Cavarzano include Iron Age fibulae, knives and bronze objects. Roman material includes an early third-century limestone base dedicated to Marco Carminio Pudente, associated with the dendrophori and fabri, and the second-century funerary stele of Tito Sertorio Proculo. Lombard tomb groups from Mel and Sospirolo conclude the sequence. A sarcophagus of Flavio Ostilio and his wife Domizia is preserved in the courtyard of Palazzo Crepadona.

Context and history

Palazzo dei Giuristi takes its name from the college of jurists that occupied it. The building became Belluno's first civic museum seat in 1876, before the collections expanded into the present Musei Civici. The archaeological holdings continue the work of the local scholars who excavated burial grounds and settlements across the Valbelluna. The city's Roman lapidarium is displayed in the atrium of the adjacent Auditorium Comunale.