National Museum and Archaeological Park of Egnazia

The archaeological park of Egnazia , inserted in a pleasant naturalistic-environmental context, is one of the most interesting in Puglia. The city, mentioned by classical authors for its privileged geographical position, was a strategic commercial port in the connection between West and East . The first settlement was built in the 16th century BC and continued to exist until the Iron Age , when the whole territory of Puglia was inhabited by the Iapyges . Around the end of the sixth century. BC, Egnazia was characterized as a settlement of Messapia , corresponding to the current provinces of Brindisi and Lecce. Starting from the third century. BC, with the Roman presence in the area, the city was transformed and in the first century. BC it acquired municipal status, assuming great importance thanks to the presence of the port and the Via Traiana . From the sixth century. AD the lower part of the town was progressively abandoned and the settlement continued on the Acropolis until the XIII century. Of the Messapian phase of Egnatia remain the mighty defense walls and the necropolis , with pit and semi-chamber tombs and the monumental room. Of the Roman city you can admire the remains of the Via Traiana , the Civil Basilica with the hall of the Three Graces , the Sacellum of the oriental divinities, the porticoed square, the cryptoporticus and the baths . Among the buildings of Christian worship, built between the fourth and sixth centuries. AD, we note the Episcopal Basilica with the baptistery and the Southern Basilica , originally paved with mosaics . The museum , built in 1975 outside the walls of ancient Gnathia , on the edge of the western necropolis, has welcomed since 1981 a series of temporary exhibitions , also permanently maintaining an educational exhibition on "Egnatia, its history and monuments". The exhibition itinerary , divided into 7 sections, narrates the events that have characterized archaeological research in Egnatia and the historical evolution of the site from 16th century BC until the XIII century AD, period of abandonment. The finds and images illustrate the peculiarities that characterized the first settlement of huts in the Bronze Age , the influence of the Iapygian and Messapian cultures, the Roman and early Christian phases, with the city becoming a bishopric. The last section collects evidence relating to the Lombard presence and the last traces of attendance in the area. The finds come from excavations carried out in the town and in the necropolis of Egnazia, but also from the territory.