National Archaeological Museum of Aquileia opens new storage rooms to the public: more than 5 thousand artifacts on display

Inaugurated the new storerooms of the National Archaeological Museum of Aquileia: the new spaces, now open to the public, return an exclusive overview of the archaeological heritage of one of the most important cities of the Roman Empire, contributing to enrich the immense historical and archaeological heritage of Aquileia. This is an important chapter in the renewal path of the institution belonging to the Historical Museum and Park of Miramare Castle - Regional Directorate National Museums of Friuli Venezia Giulia of the Ministry of Culture. The project also marks a turning point in the management and enhancement of the collections, as thousands of artifacts will be on view for the first time in the expanded museum itinerary. Implemented as part of the Strategic Plan “Major Cultural Heritage Projects” and thanks to additional resources from the Ministry of Culture, the project involved the architectural and plant restoration and complete refurbishment of the so-called “Great Warehouses,” built in the 1950s within the characteristic system of porticoed galleries of the Aquileia complex and partially integrated from the beginning, according to a vision at the time pioneering, into the permanent visitor route. The different instances of preservation, cataloguing and archiving of the thousands of artifacts preserved here, and previously not on public display, had to dialogue and coexist with the changing needs of fruition, communication and accessibility of a considerable part of the collection.

The new spaces comprise a succession of six interconnected rooms totaling more than 500 square meters, within which the artifacts are enhanced with a modern and functional layout. The exhibition facilities were designed by Studio Modland to meet the needs of preservation and handling of artifacts that are heterogeneous in material, weight and size, and at the same time ensure the most optimal use of space and appropriate forms of presentation to the public. One of the design guidelines was to make the rooms versatile and adaptable to different modes of use, creating a “mixed space” to be used for temporary exhibitions as well. Contributing to this purpose is a studied lighting system, designed not only to make the exhibits stand out but also to define different scenarios, functional to the different use of the spaces. The rooms of the new storerooms are also equipped with didactic apparatuses that continue the narrative of the ancient city of Aquileia developed along the permanent exhibition route of the Villa Cassis Faraone, introducing, however, a new communicative mode that stimulates dialogue with the public, which is invited to walk through the rooms asking questions and suggesting new interpretations, also using unusual tools arranged along the route. The captions themselves are designed in an interrogative form: curiosities are uncovered, themes not covered elsewhere are explored in depth, and people tiptoe into the world of historical, epigraphic and archaeological research. The Aquileia collection will be enriched with new readings and new insights that will allow for continuous updating of the educational apparatuses intended as tools of understanding and communication in continuous transformation, built in a participatory form and shared with the community. With this in mind, the Museum’s social profiles will also be platforms for communication and dialogue.

The scientific and academic research that has never stopped in recent years is reflected in the collection’s online database, intended as an indispensable working tool for the museum’s technical-scientific staff who have to manage such a large collection of artifacts. The digital directory is continuously updated with the compilation of new descriptive cards of all exhibits with their scientific bibliography. These cards can also be consulted, via free registration on the https://www.manaquileiacollezione.beniculturali.it/ portal, through Qr codes placed next to individual exhibits.

The museum concludes with a classroom dedicated to educational activities: an unusual stone bestiary composed of fantastic animals and creatures is displayed here.

More than 5 thousand artifacts, including inscriptions, votive altars, funerary monuments, sculptures and reliefs, can be seen in the new storage rooms. In addition to these are numerous glass, metal and ceramic artifacts that did not find a place within the main route, but which the public will be able to see directly thanks to the presence of chests of drawers equipped with protective glass, showcases and metal shelving. Also present are mosaics with busts of athletes from the excavation of the Great Baths, enhanced, after careful restoration work, in the central hall, where they dialogue, at the conclusion of the work still in progress, with that inserted in the pavement since the second half of the 20th century. The three portions of the mosaic floor have now been mounted on as many sliding panels, acting as a backdrop for those entering the hall and, at the same time, as a closure for the shelving behind, dedicated to stone materials.

In the coming months, visitors will then be able to see further restoration work on the mosaics that enrich the floors of the various rooms in the warehouses. In the coming months, work will begin on the reopening to the public of the naval section, which houses the Roman boat from a villa found in Monfalcone, and on the renovation of the entire system of the Lapidary Galleries.

“The opening to the public of spaces usually reserved for archaeologists and researchers,” emphasized the director of the Regional Directorate of Museums and Miramare Museum Andreina Contessa, “offers visitors unprecedented opportunities to discover the extremely rich museum collection and new tools for interpreting the history of what during the Roman era was one of the most important cities in the Mediterranean, a cosmopolitan place of encounter and cultural exchange. A visit to this place is meant to be an experience of knowledge for all, an opportunity to ask and ask questions, transforming this new section of the museum into a laboratory for research, study and reflection in which past and present come into contact through dialogue between people who experience the museum in different capacities.”

“We are particularly proud to return to the public these new museum spaces on which we have been working for several years,” said Man of Aquileia director Marta Novello. “It has been a complex and exciting team effort that has involved numerous professionals in various capacities and has allowed us to bring together different skills and sensibilities. The enormous number of artifacts that have been moved and rearranged has imposed a re-examination and reorganization of a truly considerable part of the museum collection, which forms the basis for new studies and unprecedented readings. The Museum of Aquileia is now enriched with a new space for education, pleasure, reflection and knowledge sharing, following what are the most current museum research paths at the international level.”

The repositories will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 2:15 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Sundays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (last admission at 6 p.m.).

National Archaeological Museum of Aquileia opens new storage rooms to the public: more than 5 thousand artifacts on display

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