Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Reggio di Calabria
Sights
C2
Sleeping
B4
C2
Eating
4
Cèsare
C2
B4
Drinking & Nightlife
C2
Sights
Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia
MAP
MUSEUM
GOOGLE MAP
( 0965 81 22 55;
www.archeocalabria.beniculturali.it
/
; Piazza de Nava 26; adult/child €7/3; museum closed at
the time of writing)
The museum's prides are the world's finest examples of ancient Greek
sculpture: the
Bronzi di Riace
, two extraordinary bronze statues discovered on the seabed
near Riace in 1972 by a snorkelling chemist from Rome. Larger than life, they depict the
Greek obsession with the body: inscrutable, determined and fierce, their perfect form
more godlike than human. The finest of the two has ivory eyes and silver teeth parted in a
faint Mona Lisa smile. No one knows who they are - whether man or god - and even their
provenance is a mystery. They date from around 450 BC; it's believed they're the work of
two artists.
Aside from the bronzes, there are other magnificent ancient exhibits. Look for the 5th-
century-BC bronze
Philosopher's Head,
the oldest-known Greek portrait in existence.
While the museum is undergoing extensive renovations, follow the brown 'laboratorio'
signs to the Palazzo del Consiglio on Via Portanova where you can see the bronzes for
