Museo del Mare e della Navigazione Antica

The Civic Museum of Santa Marinella, established in 1993 and recently expanded and renovated, is dedicated to the theme of the sea and ancient navigation and, through original artefacts and model reconstructions, illustrates some particular aspects of the life of forebears "on the sea and for the sea”. The museum is divided into eight exhibition rooms located in the beautiful setting of the Castle of Santa Severa, built in the Middle Ages on the site of the ancient settlement of Pyrgi, the famous port of call for traffic in the Mediterranean, which was controlled by the Etruscan city of Caere, today’s Cerveteri. The museum’s Visitor Centre provides access to the "Pyrgi and Castle of Santa Severa" itinerary, a journey of discovery throughout the story of one of the oldest ports of the Tyrrhenian Sea, an important place of worship, an Etruscan city, a Roman fort, a castle and a mediaeval village. The museum offers guided tour services, laboratories of experimental archaeology, school camps, and visits to the sunken remains of Pyrgi, either by immersion or from a glass-bottomed boat. The Museum houses the headquarters of the Inter-communal Association for the Cerite System Project, the Maritime Research Centre, the Cerite Archaeological Group, and the educational and cultural services promoted by the Archeodromo company.