Regional Archaeological Museum

A museum with an alter ego suitable for the town's monumental wealth

When is it open: everyday – from 9:00 to 19:00

What's not to be missed: "Balteo Bronzeo (Bronze Belt)", model from Augusta Praetoria, Pautasso Collection

Where is it: The Municipality of Aosta

Why?...Because it's worth it: an excellent, chronological reconstruction of the history of Aosta

Founded in 1633, and a former Challant barracks and Visitandine Convent, in the XVIII century the building took on its current appearance; the outdoor paintings (XIX century.) reproduce the Savoy crest and the portraits of the main people in the House of Challant. The building was recently renovated. The museum is located underground, where excavations have brought to light the area including the main left gateway, one of the four gateways of the city walls in Augusta Praetoria, with the Roman plans and the only section of embankment still supporting the walls. The museum is divided into a chronological journey.

The exhibition opens with Assyrian tablets collected by Canon Boson; on the tracks of the Tigris and the Euphrates, the exhibition includes anthropomorphic statues found in the archaeological site in Saint-Martin-de-Corléans (typology that refers to that cultural area). Here you will find an interesting model from Augusta Praetoria, provided with educational cards. The burial rituals and the offerings are presented together in a reconstruction of a funeral bed (based on processed bones found in an incineration tomb). Other rooms are dedicated to the funeral epigraph and local religions: the finds include the

famous Balteo Bronzeo (Bronze Belt). The Christian religion is represented by the precious pulpit found in cathedral excavations. The upper floors of the museum often host prestigious exhibitions. The building also hosts the "Pautasso" numismatic collection, with money from the Greek era to the Savoy period. There is an important collection of Celtic, Gallic and Padanian money.