On the sixteenth of August 1972 a Roman diver on holiday saw an arm sticking out of the sand eight metres down off Riace, and thought of a corpse: they were two Greek bronze warriors of the fifth century BC, almost two metres tall, with ivory eyes and silver teeth, come through twenty-five centuries of sea intact. Since then this museum has been their home, and Reggio Calabria, to the world, is the city of the Bronzes. But the museum already existed, born after the earthquake of 1908 at the wish of Paolo Orsi, and Marcello Piacentini's palace, begun in 1932 with the coins of the Greek cities carved on the façade, was the first Italian building designed on purpose to be a museum: inside is all of Magna Graecia, and the Bronzes are only the last room.
What to see
The Bronzes, first or last, but calmly: you enter in small groups through a pre-filtering room, and then you are alone with them. Bronze A, the young one, with his head turned and his mouth open as if about to speak, and Bronze B, older, more tired, with the helmet that is no longer there and the drooping shoulder; the curled hair, the copper lips, the veins on the hands. No one knows who they are, perhaps two of the Seven against Thebes, perhaps two heroes of a votive group, and it does not matter: they are the only chance to see close up original Greek sculpture of the time of Phidias, not a Roman copy.
In the same section the Head of the Philosopher from Porticello, a portrait of a real man, beard and wrinkles, of the fifth century, the oldest in existence; and the Basel Head, come home. Above, on the floors, Locri Epizephyrii with the pinakes, the terracotta tablets with the rape of Persephone, thousands of ex-votos from the women at the sanctuary, the Dioscuri dismounting from their horses, the bronze tables of the archive of the temple of Zeus, the Marafioti horseman carried by a sphinx; the marble Kouros of Reggio, found under the station; Calabrian prehistory with the engraved bull of Papasidero; the silver coins of the colonies. On the terrace, the Strait and Sicily in front of you.
Visiting
The museum is on Piazza De Nava, at the top of Corso Garibaldi, ten minutes from the central station and two from the seafront; an autonomous state museum with its own ticket, closed on Mondays, open until evening; in crowded periods entry to the Bronzes is limited and it is worth booking. Two hours, three with the terrace and the café. The Falcomatà seafront, the most beautiful in Italy according to D'Annunzio, is two steps away for afterwards.
Our editors' tip
Do the Bronzes twice: as soon as you arrive, when the room is empty, and again at the end, after seeing Locri and the pinakes, because by then you will understand where they come from and look at them differently. And in front of Bronze B stop at the right arm: it had already been remade in antiquity, with a different alloy, and it is the proof that the Greeks restored too.