About the museum
The archaeological excavations at Francavilla Marittima, carried out since 1963, have increased our knowledge of the Oinotrian local inhabitants and the Greek colonists but also unearthed many ancient objects. This Virtual Museum FRANCAVILLA presents a selection of the material. Each object will be briefly described.
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Location
The shape of Italy has been likened to a boot. In the midst under the foot of the boot lies a large plain surrounded by foothills and bordered by the Ionian Sea. The region is named the Sibaritide after the ancient Greek colony of Sybaris (founded c. 720 and destroyed 510BC). Places that were inhabited by Oinotrians already before the Greeks colonisation, such as for instance Torre del Mordillo, Broglio di Trebisacce and Amendolara, have created Archaeological parks and/or small museums at their excavation sites. The site of the Greek colony Sybaris itself is also open to visitors, and in the nearby National Archaeological Museum of the Sibaritide are displayed many finds from the sites mentioned above. Read more...
History
In 1963, the archaeological excavations at Francavilla Marittima started when Paola Zancani Montuoro and Maria W. Stoop dug their first holes respectively at Macchiabate and on the top of the Timpone della Motta. From 1985 till today, researchers from the Universities Ărhus, Basel, Cosenza and Groningen, of the Archaeological Museum of the Sibaritide and the German Institute in Rome followed Zancani’s footsteps. Unfortunately, between the authorized excavations in the ’70 of the past century, looting took place on a grand scale in the necropolis as well as in the sanctuary on the top of the Motta. Read more...