• Art & Culture

Angera municipial archaeological museum

Where
Palazzo del Pretorio
Via Marconi 2, Angera (VA)
Contacts
+39 320 4653416
Official site

Angera, today a beautiful resort town on the Lombard shore of Lake Maggiore, has yielded the oldest evidence of human presence in the Varese area and was already in ancient times an important traffic station along the river-lacustrine trade routes straddling the Alps.

Excavations, conducted since the end of 19th century, are frequently resumed even today and always return significant finds.

The Municipial Archaeological Museum,  located in the centre of the town, is hosted in a beautiful 15th-century building and collects the most important historical records of the area.

The first room is dedicated to Prehistory, with significat evidence from Upper Paleolitic to the Copper Age, including those found in the famous Grotta di Angera. In addition to the numerous original finds, a Tactile Table has been set up to allow all visitors to touch, smell and try out some of the prehistoric techniques attested in the area. 

In the second room, the living area of Angera in Roman times is illustrated. There are numerous and significant testimonies to the culture, religion and structure of the ancient vicus, as well as coins and artefacts testifying to ancient trade relations with central Europe and the Mediterranean. A section is dedicated to rare and fascinating organic and food remains, including the Cislago olla containing rye, wheat and chestnut seeds, and the famous Panini di Angera, for which the village is second in Italy only to Pompeii.

Large space is dedicated to Roman necropolises, from which come numerous grave goods, glass, ceramic and metal artefacts, oil lamps, coins and small jewellery. From the early Christian cemetery there is a 6th century marble slab with an inscription in Greek: it is the funerary stele of an ancient merchant who lived and was buried in Angera, but was born in Sirya; the find confirms the great mobility of peoples throughout the inhabited world since ancient times. Under the portico on the ground floor, there is a beautiful Lapidarium with statues, altars and fragments of funerary monuments, which is also accessible to the blind. 

The rooms also host the MABA, Museo Archeologico dei Bambini – Angera, a colourful exhibition, created for the needs of children, to make them feel at ease in an accesible environment, in which they can find iconographic explainations, stools to reach the highest showcases, thematic books and games, thanks to which they can learn together with their parents

The Archaeological Museum is hosted in the Palazzo del Pretorio, a 15th-century palace accessed from Via Marconi through a pointed arch portal in Angera stone. 

 The north side of a small courtyard is decorated with a portico supported by Angera stone columns with shielded and foliated capitals.

In the 18th century it was the seat of the Pretorio, which became the Pretura in the 19th century. In the early 20th century it housed the Town Hall, which was transferred after the war.  Since 1982, the palace has housed the Museum on the first floor, where valuable evidence on the origins and history of Angera is collected.

 


Opening hours

Winter schedule (from 15 September to 20 December and from 1 February to 14 May)

  • wednesday and thursday 10.00-13.00
  • sunday 14.30-18.30

Summer schedule (from 15 May to 14 September)

  • thursday 10.00-13.00
  • saturday and sunday 14.30-18.30

CLOSED: from 20 December to 31 January

Take me here: Angera municipial archaeological museum

Places

Angera

An ancient town in the province of Varese on the Lombard shore of Lake Maggiore.
  • Villages
Lakeside promenade of Angera, with a small beach. By the lake, there is an empty sun lounger, and you can see the Rocca in the distance.
141 mt

Angera

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Angera
361 mt

Borromeo Castle, the Museum of Children’s Clothing and the Doll and Toy Museum

  • Art & Culture
Borromeo Castle, the Museum of Children’s Clothing and the Doll and Toy Museum
361 mt

Rocca Borromeo

What strike visitors of Rocca Borromeo, located on the southern shore of Lake Maggiore,is the architectural harmony of its five buildings
  • Art & Culture
Rocca Borromeo
413 mt

Relive your childhood at the Toys Museum

  • Art & Culture
Toys Museum, Museums Varese
425 mt

Rocca di Angera

  • Art & Culture
Rocca di Angera
428 mt

Sass da Preja Buia

The erratic boulder at Sesto Calende
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Sass da Preja Buia
5.17 km

Ispra

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Ispra
5.28 km

The Abbey of San Donato

In Sesto Calende the beautiful and ancient Romanesque church is worth a visit
  • Religious Tourism
Visit the Abbey of San Donato in Sesto Calende
6.48 km

Lake Monate

  • Lakes
Lake Monate
7.15 km

Golf dei Laghi

The undulating of the Golf dei Laghi, hilly course offers breathtaking views of Monte Rosa and Lake Maggiore, making the game enjoyable.
  • Golf
Golf dei Laghi, Travedona Monate (VA)
7.91 km

Lake Comabbio

Discover the Hidden Gem of Varese
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Passerella in legno sul lago di Comabbio, con alberi sullo sfondo in una giornata di sole.
9.06 km

Big Bench #333

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Ph: Prolco Varano Borghi
9.87 km

The hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso

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@inlombardia - Eremo di Santa Caterina del Sasso
11.52 km

Prehistoric Alpine Stilt Houses

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Siti palafitticoli preistorici dell'arco Alpino
11.62 km

Prehistoric Alpine Stilt Houses

  • Unesco Sites
Palafitte Arco Alpino
11.77 km

Leggiuno

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Leggiuno
11.78 km

Necropoli di Caravate

Complesso di quattordici sepolture a inumazione fra l’VIII e il IX secolo
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Necropoli di Caravate
13.11 km

Varese Lake

The hidden gem in Lombardy to explore
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Vista dal drone del Lido della Schiranna di Varese all'alba.
13.39 km

Lago di Varese

Liberty villas, gardens on the lake, itineraries in the woods. And an islet with stilts from the Neolithic. Discover the Lake of Varese
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Lago di Varese
13.52 km

Activities

Italian cooking class

  • Food & Wine
Italian cooking class
5.75 km

Bike Tour around the Lakes of Comabbio and Varese

  • Cycle Tourism
Bike Tour around the Lakes of Comabbio and Varese
7.74 km

Where to sleep

Casa in Antica Corte Lombarda

Angera
Casa in Antica Corte Lombarda
16 mt

Locaz. Tur. Angera Riva

ANGERA
Locaz. Tur. Angera Riva
38 mt

Casa Bosco Via Magenta sub. 8

ANGERA
Casa Bosco Via Magenta sub. 8
73 mt

Casa Vacanze Bosco Riccardo Angera

ANGERA
Casa Vacanze Bosco Riccardo Angera
73 mt

Le Volte nel Borgo

ANGERA
Le Volte nel Borgo
81 mt

CAV Bosco via Magenta

ANGERA
CAV Bosco via Magenta
91 mt

GARIBALDI 1

Angera
GARIBALDI 1
96 mt

CAV Richard Angera

ANGERA
CAV Richard Angera
99 mt

Locazione Turistica Angera Adamovic

ANGERA
Locazione Turistica Angera Adamovic
123 mt

EX CONVENTO SANTA CATERINA

Angera
EX CONVENTO SANTA CATERINA
156 mt

CAV Sciarini Angera

ANGERA
CAV Sciarini Angera
189 mt

APPARTAMENTO BIANCA

ANGERA
APPARTAMENTO BIANCA
202 mt

APPARTAMENTO BLU

ANGERA
APPARTAMENTO BLU
202 mt

Cottage House

ANGERA
Cottage House
203 mt

IRIS Apartment Lago Maggiore

ANGERA
IRIS Apartment Lago Maggiore
204 mt

LT Angera Via Madonnina

ANGERA
LT Angera Via Madonnina
237 mt

HOTEL DEI TIGLI

Angera
HOTEL DEI TIGLI
283 mt

Villa AMARENA

ANGERA
Villa AMARENA
328 mt

CASA DI BUZ LAGO MAGGIORE

Angera
CASA DI BUZ LAGO MAGGIORE
361 mt

Lake Maggiore privat ground floor 2 rooms & garden

Angera
Lake Maggiore privat ground floor 2 rooms & garden
369 mt