The National Archaeological Museum of Locri Epizephyrii is located on the edge of the sacred area of Marasà, next to the corner section where the ancient city walls, after their path parallel to the coastline, turn in the direction of the hills.

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Please note that any information provided herein is subject to change without notice. You are therefore invited to contact the information office of the National Archaeological Museum via the phone number provided to verify any possible change before you start your travel to reach the Museums and/or the Archaeological Area.

Located at km. 95 of State Road 106 "Jonica", the Museum was designed by architect G. De Franciscis and open to the public in 1971 under the designation of "Antiquarium of Locri".

It is a small structure which basically develops on two levels. The upper level consists of a classical exhibition area in which find their place the archaeological finds and the various display cases that contain them, arranged according to a criterion based on the place of discovery of the manufactured article; the lower level, instead, is an open space which extends right below the upper level, almost forming a portico in which are placed the archaeological finds of larger dimensions such as sarcophagi, funerary stones and architectural elements of various nature; over the years this space has also been used both for conferences and presentations concerning the development of the archaeological activity in the ancient city or for specific exhibitions.

In the summer of 1998 thanks to the work carried out by its by then Director, Dr. Claudio Sabbione, the Antiquarium is elevated to the rank of National Museum acknowledging the essential importance of the archaeological site of Locri Epizephirii in the context of the Italian cultural heritage. Such an event marks an important step in the development of the whole archaeological area that, in the wider project of institution of the Archaeological Park, is also significantly redesigned because of the new excavations that involved the Roman area of the ancient city.

Such excavation campaigns, with their exceptional findings (such as, for example, a statue of a Togatus, so-called "Togatus from Petrara"), renewed the traditional problem of a museum exhibition area which had to be, without further ado, expanded in order to allow the exhibition of a larger number of archaeological finds.

Within the archaeological area was, therefore, located a private building (the "Casino Macrì") which, built between the XVIII and XIX century a.D. and used as a farm, incorporated large portions of an original Roman structure (even a whole vaulted room) and that, once acquired and properly restored, could accommodate, in a quite charming setting, the collection of the Roman period archaeological finds unhearted in the territory of the ancient Locri.

Following the successful acquiring of the structure, the preliminary works of restoration and renovation started in 1999; simultaneously with the restoration of the structure a series of excavation campaigns were carried out in the surrounding areas that, as mentioned above, were crowned by remarkable achievements.

In the summer of 2006 the works on the structure were already complete and so it was possible to begin the design of the location for the exhibition area while waiting for the completion of major restoration works on the archaeological finds unearthed in recent years.

In August 2009 the exhibition area of the Casino Macrì is finally open to the public, becoming to all intents the section dedicated to the Roman age and late antiquity archaeological finds of the National Archaeological Museum of Locri Epizephyrii.

THE KIDS' MUSEUM

The Kids' Museum is a special project of the National Archaeological Museum of Locri Epizephyrii; started in late 2013, it is intended for a school age audience and is a unique example for the Calabrian territory (and one of the few examples in the whole country) of spaces and materials exclusively designed for kids' learning.

Developed starting from the will to make it easier to the youngers to get in touch with the cultural heritage of the territory, so helping to train generations able to truly understand the importance and value of such heritage, it provides a series of descriptive panels, designed exclusively for the kids, which are in addition to the standard exhibition panels of the Museum. These panels, with a colorful and eye-catching graphic conceived to draw the attention of the kids, along with a simple and direct language, tell the story of the ancient Locri Epizephyrii and illustrate the daily life which took place there more than 25 centuries ago.

Such tale is narrated by an ideal Locrian family of 2500 years ago (Nestore, the father - Dimitra, the mother - Costa and Clio, the sons) and is accompanied by various types of games (such as historic jigsaw puzzle) usable by the kids during the visit, as well as brochures and other materials including a map of the archaeological park.