MARTA: Sunday at the museum

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Some days ago I was inespectedly invited to a visit at the MARTA, the Archaeological Museum of Taranto. Many of you may know it for its famous craftsmanship in gold that goes sometimes around the world in the most important archaeological museums.

Taking advantage from the initiative #Sundayathemuseum, some friends and I decided to spend an hour immersed in the history of our town.

This museum, inaugurated in 1963 in the former Convent of monks Alcantarini, until few time ago was still in a stage of renovation and set up. In effect, the visit then finished after around three quarters an hour. Recently, set up has been completed in another wing. During the visit, you walk though the eras where Taranto passed through, noticing how it has changed during the passing of time, how it has been influenced and adapted to different situations. In fact, the tour is organized in chronological slots, starting from the prehistoric to the medieval period.

Obviously, speaking of Taranto, what arouse curiosity and interest the most are Greek collections (the peculiarity of Taranto is that it was an important Greek outpost), but Roman and Apulian collections have their own reasons too. In effect conserved evidences comes from the archaelogical sited of Canosa, Egnazia, Carbonara and S. Paolo Civitate. Are you asking why? Many wealthy costumers of the capable goldsmiths of Taranto came from these areas. And those ornaments have nothing less than modern ones, maybe the contrary. Don't shock if the women visiting the museum are glued to showcases admiring the complex twines of the exposed tiaras. On the contrary, men could get curious about the coins collection.

Here you arrive at period of Roman influence on the town. There are Roman villas decorated by awesome mosaics from the Imperial Age, with particular images and bright colours. Eventually the evidences from necropolis dating back the 4^th and the 3^rd centuries b.C., the reconstruction of a tomb and many showcases with metal and glass objects from different periods.

After the tour you feel proud of being from Taranto, of knowing a so prestigious town. On the other side, you cannot avoid to feel a bit disheartened because of the way in which it is governed and managed. It would be a good and right thing for every citizen of Taranto to know the richness of his town, to love it and to care about it in order to give it back the splendour and the prestige that characterised it in the past. That treasure is still there that waits for us to be discovered, admired and enhanced in each corner of Taranto. And who can do it best if not its inhabitants?

Contacts

http://www.museotaranto.org/

MARTA
Museo Nazionale Archeologico di Taranto
Via Cavour, 10
74100 Taranto

Opening times

Every day, 8.30 - 19.30 
(closed on January 1^st,  May 1^st , Dicember 25^th)
Box office closes at 19.00

Info phone number 099-4532112