Regional Archaeological Museum "Antonino Salinas" - Palermo

The oldest and most important Museum in Sicily , founded in 1814, is named after the illustrious archaeologist Antonino Salinas and is located in the heart of the historic center of Palermo .

The building, housed in the seventeenth-century convent of the Philippian Fathers, is a monumental complex of approximately 7,000 square meters which collects and displays one of the richest archaeological collections in Italy , which testify to the history of the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean, in particular of Sicily, from Prehistory to the Middle Ages .

On the ground floor it is possible to admire the most important part of the permanent collection , which revolves around the sculpture room of the Temples of Selinunte , the most splendid manifestation of Greek art in the West.

Here there is also a work of immense historical value, the so-called Palermo Stone , a slab with hieroglyphic inscriptions containing the oldest royal document in Egypt [approximately 2,500-2,350 BC], fundamental for the reconstruction of the first dynasties of the Pharaohs.

The exhibition route winds through two magnificent porticoed cloisters adorned with historic fountains, the largest of which is enriched by a lush garden , and ends in the 'Agorà' , a large and bright multipurpose space which houses the complex of stone lion heads of the Temple of Victory of Himera and the large Gorgon mask of Temple C of Selinunte which serves as a real meeting place.

The first and second floors, currently being reorganised , will offer visitors all of the historical collections: Bourbon donations from Pompeii , the Casuccini Etruscan collection of Chiusi, the University of Palermo Museum , the Museum of the Benedictine Abbey of San Martino delle Scale (Monreale), Salnitrian Museum of the Jesuit Fathers of Palermo, Museum of Baron Astuto of Noto, Medal Collection; the private collection of Antonino Salinas , which mainly includes coins, is the largest with approximately 6,660 finds .

The findings from excavations conducted in several other Sicilian archaeological sites will also be on display. In a large room with a skylight, among others, the grandiose mosaics discovered in the Roman-era patrician houses in Piazza della Vittoria in Palermo will be exhibited.

Salinas offers scholars the prestigious Library , specialized in archeology and equipped with a large ancient collection, and the precious Historical and Photographic Archives .

The structure is equipped with additional services, such as a bookshop , cafeteria and cloakroom and visit aids.