ANTONIO-SALINAS REGIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

The museum has been located since 1866 in the former convent of the Philippine, a pleasant 17th century building with a fountain surrounded by plants. It is one of the most important archaeological collections in Italy. The museum illustrates with numerous objects the stages of civilization of Western Sicily from prehistoric times to the Roman era. The collections come from the university's museums and from the Francis I Museum, which gave the museum a collection of terracotta and bronzes, including a Hercules slaughtering a deer. This work was probably the central ornament of a fountain at the time. On the second floor, you can't miss the famous bronze ram. This remarkable piece of astonishing realism dates from the 3rd century BC. It was the centerpiece of the museum and at the time it adorned the entrance to the castle of Maniace in Syracuse. The second floor is dedicated to prehistory, Roman frescoes and Greek mosaics. All the pieces were found during land and underwater excavations organized by the city of Palermo. During the visit, you will also have the opportunity to discover beautiful metopes. The most remarkable are those representing Hercules fighting against an Amazon, Athena fighting against the giant Encelada, the transformation of Actaeon into a stag and finally the representation of Zeus and Hera (the daughter of the titans Cronos and Rhea but also the wife and sister of Zeus).