National Archaeological Museum, Cagliari

The National Archaeological Museum in Cagliari is one of the main cultural and historical sights of the capital of the island of Sardinia. The museum is located on Piazza Arsenale near the Royal Palace in a historic three-story building and contains a large collection of exhibits from all over Italy. All the artifacts are placed in glass showcases according to the topics or chronology. The first floor contains items from the early civilizations of the Mediterranean – from the Neolithic period to the Middle Ages. Exhibits on the upper floors are presented in accordance with the sites of the finds and the period to which they belong.

Exhibits of the museum

The archaeological museum in Cagliari consists of many collections of historical and cultural artifacts. You should pay attention to the following expositions:

• Stone tools, arrows, dishes, blades made out of obsidian, ornaments from bones and shells of the Neolithic period. There are numerous statues, figures of people and animals. Exposition from the burial mound Cuccuru with the image of the "Mediterranean Madonna", the goddess-mother.
• Exhibits of the Nuragic civilization of Sardinia, represented by ceramic dishes, stone products, bronze weapons. Here you can see the reconstruction of the "Giants’ Grave" and the Nuragic tower – megalithic monuments of the 2nd millennium BC. Also in this collection there is a huge number of symbolic bronze figures found in nuraghes depicting leaders, soldiers, and numerous figurines of bulls worshiped by Sards.
• Artifacts from the time of the Phoenician Colonization of the island, its conquest by the Carthaginians, as well as the Roman era. Here you can see funerary urns of Etruscan necropolises, ritual arrows, reconstruction of Phoenician burial, ceramic vases, as well as statues of Roman emperors and the relics of the first Christian church.

The two upper floors contain regional artifacts found in different parts of Sardinia, and include artifacts from all historical eras.

Interesting fact

Sardinia is located at the crossroads of the historic waterways of Asia, Africa and Europe. The history of settlements and civilizations of the island begins with the Neolithic period, the remains of settlements of the oldest European tribes were found here. Legendary Sards were one of the most developed cultures, and over 4 thousand years ago they gave the name to the island and built "Giants’ Graves" and megalithic nuraghe towers. Then the island was conquered by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians and, finally, the Romans. Here the cultures of Greeks, Etruscans and the representatives of the Middle East and Africa were mixed.

Archaeological finds include a huge list of artifacts, dating back 450 thousand years before our era. The acquaintance with the real cradle of human civilization in the archaeological museum of Sardinia is an opportunity to touch the real history and see the course of its development.

How to get there

The Archaeological Museum can be reached by bus on the line 6 to the Regina Elena stop, line 7 to the Indipendenza stop, line 8 to the stop of Buoncammino.

Opening hours: The museum can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 to 20:00.