The City Archaeological Museum is another place that everyone who is in Milan and wants to learn about its history simply must visit. It is located in the building of the ancient Major monastery. All the exhibits of the museum contain a piece of the history and culture of Northern Italy and Lombardy. Here you can see a collection of weapons from ancient peoples such as the Romans, Greeks, Etruscans, and Celts. The museum also presents items from their daily life.
The most interesting exhibit can be called the huge Masso di Borno stone, which has several thousand carved drawings. This stone is currently under strict protection by UNESCO.
Equally interesting is the bowl or cup of Trivulzio from the 4th century. This glass vessel has simply mesmerizing beauty – a rare bowl with a net-like engraving on glass (diatreme) from the 4th century AD. To this day, the complex technology of making these rare items has not been fully revealed.
In the inner courtyard of the archaeological museum, there are buildings and ruins from different historical periods, which is also very interesting for history lovers. There you can see the remains of the foundation of an ancient Roman house (domus) from the 1st century AD, fragments of fortress walls with the only surviving watchtower, and the corner tower of the ancient Roman circus, which over time was transformed into a bell tower.
At the entrance to the museum, there is a large model that visually demonstrates the appearance of Milan from the 1st to the 4th century AD.
The museum is divided into several thematic sections: ancient Greek civilization, Etruscan civilization, ancient Milan, and the early Middle Ages of the Lombard era. The Roman Empire. Customs and daily life of the ancient Romans. Pagans and early Christians. Barbarians and warlike Lombards. A collection from the Etruscan burial mounds, one of the most mysterious tribes of ancient Italy. Greek vases and ancient Greek culture in the modern world.
Open – every day except Monday, January 1, May 1, December 25.
