Archaeological Museum

Inside the Aragonese Castle is the MAR - Archaeological Museum of Castro, named after Prof. Antonio Lazzari. Inaugurated in 2009, in 2015 it underwent a complete renovation for the expansion.

The current setting includes stone, bronze, ceramic material, starting from the Upper Paleolithic, coming from the excavations of Grotta Romanelli and in the Grotta Zinzulusa and from the excavation campaigns in the protohistoric and historical context, in particular the acropolis currently occupied by the historic center and by Palombara locality.

The original finds, reconstructions and copies reproduce the path of frequentation by Neanderthal man today, illustrating the life of the caveman, the first protohistoric villages of the Bronze Age, the fortifications and the life of the period Hellenistic, and of the Messapian people, of the Roman colony, with chronological continuity from the end of the Byzantine presence to the military reorganization in the Aragonese era.

The exhibits on display come exclusively from excavations within the municipal territory and the core of main interest is the Hellenistic period which attests to the presence of a Templar structure starting from the first Greek colonies on the Italic coast up to the entire Roman Republican period dedicated to the goddess Minerva.

STAGE 1 – The Prehistory

In the Sala di Levante, in direct connection with the Bastione di Contrafforte, prehistoric materials are collected that document the importance of the Castro area for the knowledge of the most ancient phases of life, dating back to the Paleolithic.

STAGE 2 - The journey of Aeneas

This section presents the reproduction of the ancient settlement of Castro in the fourth century. B.C. You can see the Messapian fortifications in square blocks, the Temple of Athena, the ancient port and the rocks overlooking the sea. A large panel shows all the stages of Aeneas' journey, told in Virgil's verses. Castro is the first landing in Italy of the Trojan hero, described with emphasis in book III of the Aeneid.

STAGE 3 - Between the Middle Ages and the Modern Age

Objects found in the excavations of the Capanne fund. It presents the life stages of a residential area of the city, located close to the fortifications of the Angevin and then Aragonese and Spanish periods. Noteworthy are the polychrome glazed windows bearing the noble coats of arms of the most important southern Italian families dating back to the fifteenth century.

STAGE 3 - Writing

Important documents are collected, found in the Sanctuary of Athena, of the Messapian script, the Balkan type language that the inhabitants of Salento spoke and wrote before the Roman conquest. Noteworthy is the limestone altar with dedications to a male divinity: Iddi, perhaps Zeus, indicated by names, for the moment, indecipherable.

STAGE 4 – The Sanctuary of Athena

The extraordinary findings made inside the Trojan Athena Sanctuary (Capanne fund) are presented. The central core of the whole MAR is the limestone statue of Athena, a bust of a sculpture over three meters high. The Lecce stone slabs are extraordinary on which a plant universe of Baroque style is depicted to represent the inexhaustible fecundity of nature.

STAGE 5 - The bronze statue of Athena Iliaca

The bronze of the fourth century. B.C. found in the Sanctuary area can be considered the key to interpreting the whole Sanctuary. The goddess Athena is depicted, in the same posture as the cult statue, wearing the Phrygian helmet to identify her as a Phrygian, or Trojan, goddess.