National Museum of Magna Græcia

The National Museum of Magna Græcia (Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia), also known as the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Reggio Calabria) or Palazzo Piacentini, is a state archaeological museum in Reggio Calabria, southern Italy. Founded in 1882, it houses one of Italy's most significant collections of material from Magna Graecia, the region of Greek colonial settlement in southern Italy. The museum is particularly renowned for the Riace bronzes, two exceptionally preserved fifth-century BC Greek bronze statues considered among the most important surviving works of their kind. Owned by the Ministry of Culture and granted special autonomous status since 2014, the institution serves as the central repository for archaeological finds from Calabria, Basilicata, and Sicily, though recent practice has favored displaying new discoveries in local museums at their find sites.

The museum's origins trace to 1882, when the Museo Civico was established in Reggio Calabria on the proposal of Demetrio Salazar, initially housed in the seafront Palazzo Arcivescovile. This civic museum collected paintings, local historical objects, archaeological finds, and Risorgimento mementos across departments of ethnology, medieval art, modern art, and numismatics. In 1907, the archaeologist Paolo Orsi was appointed director, and the Soprintendenza Archeologica della Calabria was founded under his leadership, conducting intensive excavations at Reggio, Locri, and other major archaeological centers in the region. The devastating earthquake of 1908, which destroyed much of the city, prompted Orsi to propose creating a national museum that would unite state excavation finds with the city's existing collections, incorporating material from 160 years of prior research including work by the Duke of Luynes. The Soprintendenza was formally established in Reggio in 1925, and construction of a purpose-built museum began in 1932 under architect Marcello Piacentini, marking Italy's first museum building designed specifically for that function rather than adapted from an existing structure. The first stone was laid with ceremony by Prince Umberto of Savoy, with a commemorative letter from Benito Mussolini walled inside. Although the building was completed by 1941, wartime conditions delayed its use, and the museum finally opened to the public in 1954. The underwater archaeology section was established in 1981 to provide appropriate context for the Riace bronzes, discovered in 1972. The museum closed for renovation and expansion from 2009 to 2013, with the Riace bronzes hall reopening temporarily on 21 December 2013. Full reopening occurred on 30 April 2016, attended by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Culture Minister Dario Franceschini, following a project by architect Paolo Desideri of ABDR Architetti Associati that added a covered internal courtyard and panoramic terrace overlooking the Strait of Messina.

The museum's collections span from prehistory through the Byzantine period, with particular strength in the Greek colonial era of Magna Graecia from the eighth century BC onward. The holdings derive from systematic excavations conducted by the Soprintendenza Archeologica della Calabria across ancient city-states in Calabria, Basilicata, and Sicily. Prehistoric and protohistoric materials include Paleolithic choppers from Casella di Maida dating to approximately 600,000 years ago, an engraving of Bos primigenius from Papasidero dated to 11,000 years ago, and Neolithic terracottas, bronzes, iron objects, and tools from various sites. The Greek colonial collections encompass sculpture, architectural elements, votive objects, and everyday items from major centers including Rhegion, Epizephyrian Locris, Matauros, Medma, and Kaulon. Numismatic holdings include Greek coins, notably 134 coins from a hoard discovered in the Vito Superiore quarter of Reggio. Roman and Byzantine materials extend the chronological range. The underwater archaeology collection, established in 1981, contains anchors, amphorae, and shipwreck finds. The museum also formerly housed the Pinacoteca comunale, the city art gallery, until a dedicated structure was completed in 2008; this collection included two panels by Antonello da Messina depicting Saint Jerome and Abraham. Since the 2008 transfer, paintings from the late Middle Ages to the twentieth century have been displayed in the municipal pinacoteca rather than at the archaeological museum.

The Riace bronzes constitute the museum's most celebrated possession: two large bronze statues of the mid-fifth century BC found in the province of Reggio Calabria, preserved in exceptional condition. Recent scholarship suggests they may represent Tydeus and Amphiaraus, or possibly Eteocles and Polynices from the Seven against Thebes, originating from a larger group of bronze warriors. The Head of a Philosopher from Porticello, recovered near Cannitello from a fifth-century BC shipwreck, represents a rare example of Greek portraiture and has been identified as a portrait of Pythagoras of Samos. Also from the Porticello wreck is the Head of Basel, a Greek original in late severe style that was stolen after discovery, sold to the Basel museum, and subsequently restituted to Reggio Calabria. The marble Reggio Kouros, a sixth-century BC Parian marble sculpture depicting Apollo, was discovered beneath the Lido station and served as the archetype of a victorious Greek athlete at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics. From Cirò comes a marble head of Apollo. The Dioscuri group from Epizephyrian Locris depicts the twins dismounting from their horse at the battle of the Sagra, while the Marafioti Horseman shows one of the Dioscuri on horseback borne by a sphinx, from the temple of Zeus at Locri. The museum also holds bronze tablets from the archive of the temple of Zeus at Epizephyrian Locris, an extensive collection of pinakes (terracotta ex-votos depicting the rape of Persephone) from the same site, and rich assemblages of jewelry, bronze mirrors, coins, and medals.

The museum building, known as Palazzo Piacentini after its architect Marcello Piacentini, stands on Piazza De Nava and was constructed between 1932 and 1941. Its design is characterized by massive volume and deliberate monumentality, with a ground floor in bugnato black lava stone that mediates between the different elevations of Corso Garibaldi and Via Vittorio Veneto. Grand travertine pilasters and large windows for the first-floor exhibition galleries rise above this base, creating open, airy, well-lit spaces that permit smooth and continuous circulation between rooms. The main facade features large reliefs illustrating ancient coins of Magna Graecia cities. Piacentini's design is considered among the most significant purpose-built museum structures in Italy. The 2009-2013 renovation and expansion by Paolo Desideri introduced a covered internal courtyard with a notable tensegrity roof structure, one of the largest ever realized in architecture, employing innovative carbon fiber nautical structural cable to minimize thermal expansion coefficients. A new panoramic terrace offers views across the Strait of Messina. The building now occupies all available space across four levels: ground floor, first floor, second floor, and basement. During construction in 1932, remains of a necropolis were discovered on the site and are now displayed in the basement level, which also contains the museum's lapidarium and space for temporary exhibitions.

The National Museum of Magna Græcia is located in Reggio Calabria, Calabria, in southern Italy, with its entrance on Piazza De Nava. The museum is owned by the Italian Ministry of Culture and has held special autonomous status among state museums since 2014. Visitors encounter collections distributed across four levels: the ground floor contains Prehistory and Protohistory sections with objects from Calabria and the first part of the Magna Graecia colonies section with finds from Epizephyrian Locris; the first floor continues the colonies section with material from Rhegion, Matauros, Medma, and Kaulon, plus numismatics and Roman and Byzantine collections; the second floor formerly housed the Pinacoteca comunale; and the basement contains the underwater archaeology section including the Riace bronzes and Porticello bronzes, the necropolis discovered during construction, and the lapidarium. The museum's website is https://www.museoarcheologicoreggiocalabria.it/. Following its closure from 2009 to 2013 for renovation, the museum reopened fully in 2016 and now incorporates the expanded facilities daylighted courtyard and panoramic terrace as integral parts of the visitor experience.