Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum

Lapidarium in the cloister

The construction of the Olivella complex was begun in the late sixteenth century by the architect Antonio Muttone for the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri and completed in the seventeenth century. Following the law on the suppression of religious orders of 1866 the building was confiscated and became home to the museum.

During the Second World War the director of the museum, Jole Bovio Marconi, moved all the material held in the museum to the Abbey of San Martino delle Scale near Monreale. This saved the collection from destruction by the bombing during the Allied invasion of Sicily. In 1949 Bovio Marconi was made responsible for the redevelopment of the museum, as the building was heavily damaged the building was renovated by architect William De Angelis D'Ossat. From 18 July 2011 the museum has been closed for renovation. As of September 2015, only a small part of the museum is accessible free of charge. In May 2022 only the Museum's first floor is open to the public. It is uncertain when the full exhibition will be reopened.

Sarcophagus of Pizzo Cannita

Metope of Temple C in Selinunte

The Palermo Stone

On the ground floor, a section is dedicated to the artefacts found underwater, including materials that were part of the cargo of vessels, stone anchors, strains of lead, lamps, amphoras and inscriptions ranging from the culture of the Phoenicians to that of the Romans.

The Phoenician section displays two large anthropomorphic sarcophagi of the fifth century BC from the necropolis of Pizzo Cannita (near modern Misilmeri). There are also sculptures of gods and Phoenician votive stelae from Mozia and Lilybaeum.

A reconstruction of the east pediment of the archaeological site of Selinunte is exhibited, displaying the Gorgon of Temple C, several metopes with mythological reliefs (Temples C and E) and sculptures of the archaic and classical period. In 1823, two British architects, Samuel Angell and William Harris, ventured to excavate at Selinunte in the course of their tour of Sicily, and came upon many fragments of sculptured metopes from the Archaic temple now known as "Temple C". Although local officials tried to stop them, they continued their work, and attempted to export their finds to England, destined for the British Museum. Now in the shadow of the activities of Lord Elgin, Angell and Harris's shipments were diverted to Palermo, where they remain to this day in the Archaeological Museum.

Artifacts from Himera are on display, as well as objects and sculptures from Solunto, Megara Hyblaea, Tindari, Kamarina and Agrigento. Among the most important works of art are the great Ram bronze of the third century BC from Syracuse, a Roman copy of a sculpture by Lysippus depicting Heracles catching the Ceryneian Hind and a Roman copy of a marble statue by Praxiteles depicting a satyr.

The Roman period is documented by a collection of sculptures and mosaics found in villas from Piazza Vittoria in Palermo, where the center of the Roman city was previously located. Even prehistoric cultures present in the caves around the territory of Palermo are exhibited in the museum.

The museum is composed in part by private collections purchased or donated to the museum over the centuries. It also includes the Palermo stone, a portion of a large ancient Egyptian stelae.

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  The museum
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  Inner courtyard
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  A room in the museum
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  A room in the museum
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  A room in the museum
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  Metopes of Temple Y in Selinunte
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  Metopes of Temple C, E and F in Selinunte
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  Lion heads of Temple of Victory Himera
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  Phoenician sarcophagus from Pizzo Cannita, Misilmeri
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  Etruscan funerary statue from Chiusi
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  Bronze ram statue from Syracuse
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  Satyr from Torre del Greco
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  Priestess of Isis from Taormina, 2nd c. AD
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  Roman mosaic from Palermo
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  Attic black-figure lekythos

• Palermo Fragment
• Palermo Stone

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Museo archeologico regionale (Palermo).

• Official website
• Listing in the directory of museums of the Region of Sicily