Exceptional pieces to discover at the Girolamo Rossi Archaeological Museum in Ventimiglia

Girolamo Rossi, historian and archaeologist, was the man for the job. He enabled the opening, in 1880, of the first archaeological museum, where the first pieces extracted from the excavations of the Roman necropolis of Albintimilium (which over the centuries became Ventimiglia - Ventimiglia) were exhibited, begun four years earlier in Nervia, very close to the current railway line.

In 1938, the museum officially took its name and in 1984, it moved permanently to the 19th ^-century fortress called Il Forte dell'Annunziata, which also offers an exceptional panorama of the sea and today of the new port of Ventimiglia.

This place is located on the Roman road Julia Augusta, named after the first Roman emperor Augustus, and connected the Po plain to the Var river in the present-day Alpes-Maritimes.

Today, this museum holds a special place in the heart of Daniela Gandolfi, archaeologist and curator of the museum. Indeed, for this ancient history enthusiast, "archaeologists are not just researchers. They are, above all, the guardians of a collective memory."

The Forte dell'Annunziata

This fortress, built in 1831, was built on a convent dating from 1503, dedicated to the order of the Friars Minor Observants of Ventimiglia, itself built very close to the site of the old church of Saint-Lazare, patron saint of lepers.

Since 2014, it has also been possible to visit the very old underground part, which always seems to move Daniela Gandolfi: "These underground rooms that follow one another are essential because they tell the story of the site that now houses the G. Rossi Museum. Above all, they evoke a story that no longer exists but that has long inhabited these places."

This fortress also played an important military role throughout the 19th ^century and even served as barracks before being finally abandoned at the beginning of the 20th ^century . After serious restoration work, in 1984 it was finally able to house the Municipal Archaeological Museum "Girolamo Rossi" (MAR) and its many precious ancient pieces.

The Archaeological Museum

With a surface area of ^{​​1,200m2} , the museum offers, in its seven rooms, numerous plans, maps and Roman inscriptions from Albintimilium, not forgetting the vases, bottles and ceramic or glass tableware, exceptionally well-preserved funerary objects.

Among the remarkable pieces, we note the tombstones bearing funerary inscriptions of prime importance, the remarkably engraved glass cup representing a marine scene ( ^3rd century AD), or even a honey pot with two handles ( ^1st -2nd ^century AD).

Honey was then a very widespread product with varied uses: food, but also cosmetic, medicinal, even religious, and played a major economic role in the ancient world around the Mediterranean.

During the visit, information is often given in Italian, English and French, which allows you to grasp the full interest of such a museum and ultimately better understand our own history.

" He who dines well lives well ." These few words, literally translated from Latin, remind us that in ancient Rome, people already ate three meals a day: the jentaculum, eaten early in the morning, around 8-9 o'clock, consisting of bread, cheese and sometimes eggs.

Next came the prandium, eaten a little before noon and consisting of vegetables, fish, eggs and mushrooms, swallowed quickly without even sitting down.

And the cena, in the evening, taken among friends, undoubtedly the most important moment of the day, preceded by a visit to the public baths (the thermal baths).

This last meal of the day was rich and abundant and accompanied by various wines including the much-loved mulsum, a mixture of wine and honey.

But it was from the Republican period ( ^2nd - ^1st century BC) that people began to take their meals lying down on the triclinium (three-seater dining bed) which gave its name to the dining room.

As for the tableware, it was made of silver or chiseled with gold for the richest, glass and ceramic for the lower social classes, wood being reserved for the poorest.

The fork only appeared much later and was apparently used mainly in kitchens, where guests only ate food pre-cut into small pieces.