A “DIVE” INTO OVER 5000 YEARS OF HISTORY

The Regional Archaeological Museum in Aosta is a small but precious gem full of treasures and knowledge through which the long history of the region runs.

Housed in an elegant historical building in the centre of Aosta which sits on the Roman structures of the Porta Principalis Sinistra, the MAR represents the happy union of scientific rigour and dissemination of information.

Opened in 2004 and renovated in 2010 to give it its present-day layout, it is a key point of reference for Roman-period archaeology, as it is almost entirely dedicated to exhibiting artefacts dating from the ancient city of Augusta Prætoria.

Information
MAR – Regional Archaeological Museum
Piazza Roncas, 12
AOSTA
tel. 0165275902
e-mail: beniculturali@regione.vda.it
Opening times
October – March: 10.00 – 13.00 / 14.00 – 18.00
April – September: 9.00 – 19.00
Closed on 25th December and 1st January

Tickets
Admission to the site requires the purchase of the “Aosta Archeological” cumulative ticket, which includes access to the MAR–Regional Archaeological Museum, Forensic Cryptoporticus, and Early Christian Church of San Lorenzo.
With the “Aosta Archeologica” cumulative ticket you can purchase a reduced price entrance ticket to Megalithic Area.

A BRIEF HISTORY

The creation of the Royal Museum of Antiquity, opened at the end of 1929 in the Sant’Orso complex, is tied to Pietro Barocelli, who had been working in Aosta Valley as an inspector for the Piedmont cultural heritage authorities since 1912. After a series of unlucky projects dating back even to 1893 and suggested by the Portuguese architect Alfredo d’Andrade, at that time the Director of Monuments of Piedmont, Liguria and Aosta Valley, Barocelli managed to open the first archaeological museum with the support of Canon Justin Boson, Assyriologist, philologist, and monument inspector, who became its first director. The original museum displayed artefacts dating from Pre-Roman and Roman times, while in the courtyard there was a bustling lapidarium. With the establishment of the regional cultural ministry in the 1970s, and the initiation of systematic excavations, the warehouses started to fill up and it became necessary to find a new location. As a result, after using Sarriod de La Tour Castle for a short period, the building which had formerly been the Challant barracks in Piazza Roncas was chosen. The ancient Porta Principalis Sinistra had stood in the area and, during the Middle Ages, a fortified house had been built. In the 17th century the Monastero della Visitazione had been founded there, but in 1802, during the Napoleonic era, the building had been transformed into the “Challant” barracks. The collections were on display to the public at this location from 1992 under the supervision of Rosanna Mollo. This tireless archaeologist was responsible for the preparation of the “Archaeology in Aosta Valley (Archeologia in Valle d’Aosta)” exhibition held at Sarriod de La Tour from 1981 to 1991: an extremely successful exhibition which made the regional archaeological collections well-known and valued internationally. On 15th October 2004 the MAR-Regional Archaeological Museum was officially opened to the public.
https://youtu.be/RbrmaBJZE4E

PROTAGONISTS

Justin Boson
Rosanna Mollo
Justin Boson MAR - Museo Archeologico Regionale Aosta

Born in Valgrisenche in 1883, he was canon of Saint Ursus from 5th March 1921. A cultured Assyriologist, he was professor of oriental philology at the Università Cattolica of Milan from 1924 to 1950, teacher of Holy Scripture at the Major Seminary of Aosta from 1928 and advisor to the Pontifical Commission of Biblical Studies from 22nd July 1940. Appointed honorary inspector of Ancient and Fine Arts for the province of Aosta and president of the Diocesan Commission of Sacred Art from 1940, he was the author of a large number of Orientalist, literary, liturgical, historical and artistic publications. He died in Aosta in 1954. The first room in the museum, in which copies of the Sumerian tablets he acquired in Paris are in display, is dedicated to him.

Rosanna Mollo MAR - Museo Archeologico Regionale Aosta

Born in Bra (CN) in 1937, she graduated from Turin as a student of Giorgio Gullini. She arrived in Aosta Valley with the task of carrying out a series of research on the region and its capital, at that point undergoing a considerable amount of urban change. The discoveries made and the great potential of the region led to the creation, in 1968, of a specific Regional Archaeological Office. In this way a new wave opened of surveys, digs and operations to truly save artefacts properly. While working on several historical periods, her main interest was Roman-era archaeology, with the study of the forma urbis of Augusta Prætoria, the forum, the buildings used for public entertainment, the city gates, the suburbs with their centuriation (Roman grid), the aqueduct, the necropoles outside the walls and the villa in the Consolata area. It should not be forgotten that she also organised the Archeologia in Valle d’Aosta (Archaeology in Aosta Valley) exhibition, inaugurated in 1981 at Sarriod de La Tour Castle and held until 1991, which had a continuous flux of visitors. Her studies remain a milestone in our knowledge regarding Roman-era Aosta Valley.

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