Inaugurated in 1985, the museum spans several levels and includes a visit to the Roman Theatre, dating back to the 1st century B.C., a symbolic venue for the performances of the Festival of the Two Worlds.
Visiting the museum allows one to reconstruct the ancient phases of the city of Spoleto and its territory, from the Bronze Age to the pre-Roman period when it became an important settlement of the Umbrian people, as evidenced by the rich grave goods from the 7th-6th centuries B.C. found in the necropolis, up to the arrival of the Romans, with the foundation of the Latin colony in 241 B.C. and the establishment of the municipium in 90 B.C.
In this first part of the exhibition, the presence of the “Lex Luci spoletina” is noteworthy. It consists of two limestone blocks (cippi) bearing a long inscription in archaic Latin that dictated rules on the cutting of trees in the forest consecrated to Jupiter.
The archaeological excavations carried out on the Hill of Sant’Elia, where the Rocca Albornoziana stands, are documented here by a series of votive bronze statuettes dating between the 6th and 5th centuries B.C., testifying a place of worship in the area of the Hill of Sant’Elia where, in Roman times, a temple was erected.
On the second floor of the museum, exhibits from the Valnerina are displayed, a territory that was always in close relationship with Spoleto. Particularly noteworthy are the funerary urns from the Final Bronze Age found in the necropolis of Monteleone di Spoleto, the artefacts from the Montefranco sanctuaries, and the grave goods from the Hellenistic and Roman necropolis of Norcia. Many of the exhibits in the Canzio Sapori collection, recently donated to the state, also come from this same area.
Of exceptional value are the four sceptres, made of bronze and iron and decorated with animal figures, found in the necropolis of Piazza d’Armi between 2008 and 2022.
