Archaeological Museum of Istria

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"Porta Gemina", access to the main building of the museum
Main building of the Archaeological Museum
Byzantine ivory
box Find location: Piran , dating: approx. 9th or 10th century

The Archaeological Museum of Istria ( Croatian : Arheološki muzej Istre , short: AMI ) is an archaeological collection located in the Istrian municipality of Pula . Established in 1902, the museum houses over 3,000 exhibits from the prehistoric, ancient and medieval history of Istria . The museum also has decentralized exhibition rooms in the amphitheater , in the Augustus Temple , in the Franciscan monastery and the former Sacred Heart Church (Crkva Svetih Srdaca Isusova) in Pula, as well as in the archaeological sites of Nesactium .

history

The basis for the establishment of the City Museum ( Museo civico ) in Pula in 1902 was the discovery of archaeological excavations in Nesactium . With the move of the Istrian Society for Archeology and Local History ( Società istriana di archeologia e storia patria ) and the state collection of the Imperial and Royal Provincial Museum ( Museo Provinciale ) from Poreč to Pula, which consisted primarily of archaeological stone monuments , the city museum with this collection became a regional museum in 1925 Istria ( Regio Museo dell'Istria ) merged. In 1930 the expanded museum moved into the building of the former Imperial and Royal High School in Pula, which is still in use today (built in 1890 according to plans by Natale Tommasi ), and the collections were opened to the public in the same year. Towards the end of World War II , the museum was closed and some of the archaeological exhibits were transferred to Italy.

At the end of the 1940s, the museum was reopened as the Archaeological Museum of Istria under the Yugoslav administration after some changes in the area of ​​the lapidarium and the archaeological collection. After the preservation of the exhibits, which had been brought back from Italy by the early 1960s, the exhibition was revised in 1961 in line with a didactic-visual concept. In 1968 the lapidarium in the rooms on the ground floor was redesigned, in 1973 that of the prehistory exhibition rooms on the first floor and that of the ancient, late antique and medieval exhibition rooms on the second floor of the building. Even today, the collections of the Archaeological Museum of Istria are complemented with new finds from all over Istria.

Departments and locations

The main building is located in the middle of a park, on the eastern edge of a hill, on which the Venetian castle and the Historical and Maritime Museum of Istria are located. The museum is accessible through the Porta Gemina, a small double gate of the former Roman city wall of Pula. In the park there are also the foundations of a mausoleum, a small Roman theater and an ancient cistern.

The “Sacred Hearts” museum and exhibition room is located in the former Church of the Sacred Hearts in the center of Pula, built in 1908.

Archaeological Department

The archaeological section comprises three permanent collections of prehistoric, Roman-ancient and medieval history of Istria. The treasure of the Histrian King Epulon from the 2nd century BC is one of the most important exhibits in the Archaeological Collection . Chr. , A mosaic fragment from the Chapel of St. Mary Formosa ( 6th century n. Chr.) And a finely crafted box made of ivory with Dionysian scenes from the 10th century n. Chr.

The prehistoric collection ( Prapovijesna zbirka ) shows u. a. Stone fragments from the archaeological excavation sites of Nesactium with z. T. religious content. Other significant Stone Age exhibits come from the Romualdo and other caves in Istria, as well as Bronze and Iron Age finds from various hill castles on the peninsula. The most recent exhibits date from the La Tène period (5th to 1st century BC )

The Roman-ancient collection ( Antička zbirka ) shows Roman stone, ceramic and metal finds from the former Roman cities Colonia Pietas Iulia Pola , Nesactium and Parentium from the first half of the 1st millennium AD, and documents everyday life in Rome these cities. This also includes the lapidary as well as a jewelry and coin collection .

The medieval collection ( Srednjovjekovna zbirka ) mainly shows early Christian floor mosaics from Nesactium and Pula (including St. Maria Formosa, St. John in the Nymphaeum, St. Felicita, St. Niklaus) and other architectural and art treasures of early Christian churches in Istria.

Documentation department

Since 1970 the museum has published the archaeological journal Histria Archaeologica , with articles on the latest research results. The documentation department also publishes thematic manuals on the museum's collections and research.

Publications (selection)

  • Štefan Mlakar : The Romans in Istria , Archaeological Museum of Istria, Pula, 1966.
  • Branko Marušič : Late Antique and Byzantine Pula , Archaeological Museum of Istria, Pula, 1967.
  • Branko Marǔsic: Istria in the early Middle Ages: archaeological-historical representation , Archaeological Museum of Istria, Pula, 1969.
  • Štefan Mlakar: Ancient Pula , Archaeological Museum of Istria, Pula, 1972.
  • Boris Baćić, Štefan Mlakar: Archaeological Museum of Istria in Pula , Archaeological Museum of Istria, Pula, 1982.
  • Kristina Džin: Istria , Archaeological Museum of Istria, Pula, 2005.

Library department

The city library ( Biblioteca Comunale ) was opened on January 1, 1903 in the same building as the then city museum. In 1930 the library was expanded to include the holdings of the Provincial Library ( Biblioteca Provinciale ) and the museum moved into the new main building. In 1950 the library's holdings were taken over by the museum's scientific library. In 1967 the museum library moved from the 2nd floor of the main building to a building in the immediate vicinity of the main building.

The library's holdings comprise over 40,000 media items - for the most part the editions of around 840 journals; including u. a. also the Atti e Memorie della Società istriana di archeologia e storia patria, the Archeografo Triestino, the Biographical Yearbook for Archeology, the Inscriptiones Italiae and the communications of the kk Central Commission for Research and Conservation of Art and Historical Monuments.

Conservation and restoration department

The conservation and restoration department was set up during the Yugoslav administration and is located in the basement of the Archaeological Museum. It deals with the archaeological processing of the exhibits and can be viewed by prior arrangement.

literature

  • Wolfram Letzner : The Roman Pula: Pictures of a City in Istria , Von Zabern, Darmstadt, 2005.
  • Dietrich Höllhuber: Croatian Adriatic Coast , DuMont Reiseverlag, Cologne, 2009.

Web links

Commons : Archaeological Museum of Istria  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Archaeological Museum of Istria . Pula Tourist Board. 2009. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
  2. ^ Archaeological Museum of Istria . Istria Tourist Board. 2009. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
  3. ↑ Gallery of the Sacred Heart . Pula Tourist Board. 2009. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
  4. ^ Archaeological Museum of Istria: Histria Archaeologica . Hrčak , scientific journal portal of the University of Zagreb . 2009. Retrieved July 29, 2012.

Coordinates: 44 ° 52 ′ 14 "  N , 13 ° 50 ′ 51"  E