Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Altino

The Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Altino (MANA) is an archaeology museum located in the frazione Altino of Quarto d'Altino, in the Metropolitan City of Venice, northeastern Italy. Situated adjacent to the archaeological site of Altinum, the museum preserves the most representative archaeological finds from this important Venetic and Roman center, which flourished from the 8th century BC to the 5th century AD on the northern edge of the lagoon that would become Venice. Together with the nearby archaeological site, the museum forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage site 'Venice and its lagoon.' The institution presents the history of the region between Chioggia in the south of the Venetian lagoon and Concordia Sagittaria in the northeast, making it significant for understanding Venetic, Roman, and pre-Venetian history.

The museum's origins trace back to sporadic discoveries in the 19th century when agricultural work and land reclamation brought numerous artifacts to light. Systematic excavations began in 1936-1937 under the direction of Jacopo Marcello, with finds initially stored at Villa Reali in Dosson (Treviso). The first museum building, designed by architect Ferdinando Forlati, was constructed at the end of the 1950s on land donated by Count Angelo Bacchini delle Palme. This small structure, built by the Archaeological Superintendence and Count Jacopo Marcello, opened on 29 May 1960 with just two rooms, one serving as exhibition space and the other as storage. At inauguration, the collection numbered fewer than one thousand objects.

The pace of archaeology accelerated dramatically after 1966, when excavations along the Via Annia revealed over 2,000 tombs and burial places. The 1970s added pre-Roman graves to the growing corpus. Michele Tombolani (1943-1989) served as first director until 1987, when Margherita Tirelli succeeded him. By 2015, catalogued finds had reached 55,000 pieces, with thousands added annually.

The need for expansion became pressing. In 1984, the Italian state acquired two 19th-century farm buildings used for rice production in the locality of 'Fornace,' approximately 500 meters from the original museum. However, restoration stalled due to lack of funds. Work resumed only in December 2009, supported by the Veneto Region and European Union funding totaling 6 million euros. The new museum was inaugurated on 12 December 2014 but remained open for only a single day; it definitively opened to the public on 4 July 2015. Mariolina Gamba became director in 2015.

The museum's holdings have grown from fewer than 1,000 objects at its 1960 founding to over 40,000 artifacts by the time of the new museum's opening, reaching 55,000 catalogued pieces by 2015 with continued annual growth. The collection encompasses material from the surrounding archaeological areas of Altino, with which the museum is centrally integrated.

The chronological scope extends from the Mesolithic period through late antiquity. The ground floor addresses prehistory and protohistory, covering the prehistoric occupation of the lagoon margin from the 10th to the 2nd millennium BC, and continues through the Iron Age (1st millennium BC). This section represents a broader geographical area than the upper floors, providing an overview of epochs from the Mesolithic onward. The transition from prehistory to protohistory, marked by the first written sources, is placed remarkably early at the Bronze-to-Iron Age transition in the 10th-9th centuries BC.

The first floor focuses on the Roman period, documenting the transformation from indigenous settlement through Romanization (2nd-1st century BC) to full Roman integration (1st-3rd century AD). The second floor, not yet fully installed, will present late Roman necropolises and late antique history. A dedicated section on the emporical sanctuary at Fornace highlights Altino's role as a pre-Roman and Roman commercial port.

Specialized studies and exhibitions have been devoted to particular categories including inscriptions, funerary stelae, and Venetian glass.

Among the most significant objects on display is a gold necklace of Tarantine manufacture, datable between the late 2nd and 1st century BC, which represents the high-quality craftsmanship available to wealthy inhabitants. The collection also includes glass murrini, demonstrating sophisticated Roman glassworking techniques. Marble portraits that decorated the funerary monuments of Altino's richest citizens provide insight into local elite self-representation.

The Iron Age displays feature reconstructions of Venetic, Celtic, and Romanized burials, culminating in imposing horse tombs with their associated harnesses, pieces of particular value due to their rarity. These equine burials attest to the wealth and status distinctions in pre-Roman society.

The museum also preserves more everyday items that illuminate ordinary life in Roman Altino: children's toys and leather shoe soles belonging to ancient Altinatians offer intimate glimpses into daily existence across social levels. The thematic organization on the first floor groups material according to spatial and urban planning, roads, villas and domus, fashion and jewelry, notable individuals, society, professions, and trade, allowing visitors to understand how these categories intersected in the ancient city.

The original 1960 museum occupied a modest structure of just 180 square meters, with an external porch displaying tombstones. As the collection expanded, some monuments had to be placed in the house garden, and adequate museum operations became increasingly difficult. The old premises, now known as AltinoLab, served as the museum's headquarters from 1960 to 2015 and today functions as a warehouse.

The current museum complex comprises three main elements: the three floors of the former rice farm (ex-risiera), a barchessa (a type of rural outbuilding typical of Venetian agricultural architecture), and a new modern structure designed by architect Stefano Filippi. This contemporary addition includes an observation tower overlooking the surrounding countryside and the Venetian lagoon. The total exhibition space expanded dramatically from 180 to approximately 1,800 square meters.

The new building also incorporates dedicated spaces for restoration, cataloguing, and the creation of reproductions and photographs, though these had not yet been activated at the time of opening. A bookshop and cafeteria were also constructed but remained to be put into operation.

The museum sits within the archaeological area of Altino, the buried city's archaeological reserve. About 500 meters from the museum, two archaeological sites can be visited: one preserves remains of the monumental landing gate from the 1st century BC that marked the northern entrance to the city, along with an urban hinge connecting the gate to the town; the other reveals a small portion of a residential district representing urban expansion.

The Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Altino is located in the frazione Altino within the municipality of Quarto d'Altino, in the Metropolitan City of Venice. Since December 2014, the museum has been managed by the Ministry of Culture through the Polo museale del Veneto, which became the Direzione regionale Musei in December 2019. The museum's website is maintained at http://www.polomusealeveneto.beniculturali.it.

The new museum opened definitively to the public on 4 July 2015, following a brief inauguration on 12 December 2014. Visitors can access the exhibition spaces across three floors, with the observation tower offering views of the surrounding landscape and lagoon. The second floor and some dedicated sections, including the emporical sanctuary display and late antique materials on the third floor, were planned to complete the exhibition but had not yet been fully installed at the time of the museum's opening.

The archaeological area adjacent to the former museum headquarters (AltinoLab) provides complementary access to the physical remains of ancient Altinum, including the 1st-century BC landing gate and residential quarters, located approximately 500 meters from the current museum building.