On November 3, 1860, just one month after the Marches region joined the Kingdom of Italy, extraordinary commissioner Lorenzo Valerio decreed the creation of a regional archaeological collection. Championed by Count Carlo Rinaldini and scholar Carisio Ciavarini to protect local artifacts from the antiquities market, the institution opened in 1868 and received national museum status in 1906. Since June 25, 1958, it has been housed in Ancona inside the 16th-century Palazzo Ferretti, following the destruction of its previous venue in the convent of San Francesco alle Scale during WWII bombings in 1943. Unlike many national institutions, its collections were built from more than 150 years of field excavations rather than private aristocratic holdings.
What to see
The museum route covers multiple floors of Palazzo Ferretti. On the mezzanine of the second floor, the Prehistoric section presents 300,000-year-old Paleolithic tools from Mount Conero, Neolithic finds from Ripabianca di Monterado dating to the 6th millennium BC, and Aeneolithic remains from Conelle di Arcevia. Its highlight is the Frasassi Venus, a statuette carved between 28,000 and 25,000 years ago, shown alongside twenty-five Bronze Age daggers from Ripatransone (c. 1800–1600 BC), pottery from the Frasassi Grottoes, and Protovillanovian cremation burials from Pianello di Genga (1200–1000 BC). The third floor holds the Protohistoric section, home to the world's most comprehensive collection of Picene artifacts (9th to 4th century BC). Key displays include materials from the 8th-century BC Villanovian necropolis of Fermo, Orientalizing grave goods showing Etruscan influence, and a room dedicated to Picene stelae and inscriptions. The first floor covers the Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods, displaying Attic vases from the Numana-Sirolo necropolis and gold jewellery and weaponry of the Senone Celts from Santa Paolina di Filottrano, San Filippo di Osimo, and Montefortino di Arcevia, alongside grave goods from the Senone prince's tomb. The Roman section features the frieze and pediment from the temple of Civitalba and artifacts from Hellenistic and Roman Ancona spanning the 4th century BC to the 8th century AD.
Visiting
The display structure in Palazzo Ferretti was designed by architect Franco Minissi for the museum's reopening in 1958. Managed by the Direzione regionale musei - Marche, the itinerary follows a chronological order across the second-floor mezzanine, third floor, and first floor of the Renaissance palace.
Our editors' tip
Make sure to spend time at the touchscreen showcase in the Prehistoric section, which allows visitors to examine close-up details of the 28,000-year-old Frasassi Venus statuette.