Provincial Archaeological Museum

The Provincial Archaeological Museum of Agro Nocerino: the roots of Nuceria

The northwestern side of the convent has housed the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Agro Nocerino since 1964. The original nucleus is the Pisani collection from the protohistoric necropolis of San Marzano sul Sarno and Pareti in Nocera Superiore. Over time the collection expanded with finds from the excavations of the Hellenistic-Roman theater in Nocera Superiore, from the San Pietro area, and from civic collections in neighboring municipalities.

The museum tour is divided into four rooms within the former convent wing. The tour begins in the Hall of Tombstones, where stelae, inscriptions and an early Christian slab reused in later centuries are displayed, useful for understanding the long history of the area.

The following rooms show objects from Angri and Scafati: ancient pottery, decorated vases, small statuettes, and other materials that tell the story of the daily life and rituals of the communities that inhabited the valley since pre-Roman times.

The most famous piece is the statue of Athena Promachos, a Roman copy inspired by Greek models, found in 1958 in the area of the Pareti theater. On the base appears the name of Marcus Salvius Otho, a figure connected with the history of Nuceria. Also of particular interest is a jug (oinochoe) with an inscription in the ancient Nucerian alphabet, one of the most valuable testimonies of local culture.

The visit ends in the Sala della Congiura, with a barrel vault decorated with frescoes, linked to the tradition that the cardinals met here in 1385. As of 2019, this space also houses some works from the convent’s picture gallery, bringing archaeological finds and sacred art into dialogue.