Last week, the National Archaeological Museum of Cividale del Friuli inaugurated the new exhibition space located on the ground floor of the Palazzo dei Provveditori Veneti, the current home of the museum. Entitled Forum Iulii, the invisible city, the itinerary represents the first concrete stage of a complex renovation project launched in 2023 and still underway, with the aim of redefining the use of the entire museum complex. Andreina Contessa, director of the Historical Museum and Park of Miramare Castle as well as of the Regional Directorate National Museums Friuli Venezia Giulia, and Angela Borzacconi, director of the National Archaeological Museum of Cividale, took part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The new exhibit focuses on the Roman age of the city, offering an archaeological narrative that highlights the foundation and evolution of Forum Iulii, the ancient name of Cividale, through three major thematic cores: the invisible city, the sacred and power. More than two centuries after the first excavations conducted in 1818, which contributed to the birth of a museum vision already oriented toward the idea of an active and modern institution, the opening of Forum Iulii, the invisible city represents an important stage in the reinterpretation of Cividale’s urban history. The display makes use of known and lesser-known archaeological materials, some of them previously unpublished, which have remained in museum storage until now and are now presented to the public with a new narrative apparatus.
“A museum is not only a place where one preserves and exhibits one’s artistic and archaeological collection,” says Andreina Contessa, Director of the Historical Museum and Park of the Castle of Miramare - Regional Directorate National Museums of Friuli Venezia Giulia, “but a place in which the cultural heritage is critically and continuously rethought from ever-changing points of view, which is why it is necessary to renew the narrative and update the museum layouts. Cividale’s new layout showcases the past by highlighting its layers, while telling the story of the museum, starting with the ancient building that houses it, and the story of archaeological discoveries and its various interpretations. The new museum layout makes the visitor experience more intuitive, improves the understanding and usability of the works, increases public involvement, and will make the visit a memorable experience.”
“With this intervention we have initiated an overall regeneration of the museum, which is necessary to update its dialogue with a changing society and to lay the foundations of a museum that looks to the future,” says Angela Borzacconi, Director National Archaeological Museum of Cividale del Friuli.
Particular emphasis was placed on findings from the so-called “necropolis of Borgo di Ponte,” a burial ground dating back to the 1st century AD discovered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries across the Devil’s Bridge. The materials from the burial context, exhibited for the first time, help to delineate the sacred dimension of the Roman community of Forum Iulii, while offering new insights into the ritual practices and social organization of the time. Alongside the religious sphere, the display also addresses the theme of power through the presentation of a number of testimonies from the imperial age. Prominent among them are the bronzes from Zuglio, an example of an art of representation that spanned the centers of the region.
The work on the ground floor is part of a program to upgrade and rethink the entire museum itinerary, made possible thanks to funding from the Ministry of Culture. The ongoing work also affects other spaces in the building, with the aim of completing the restoration and enhancement of the Palazzo dei Provveditori Veneti. The interventions involve both the structural adjustment of the historic building and an overall revision of the layout, with particular attention to the narrative profile and readability of the contents.
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| Cividale del Friuli, Archaeological Museum opens new rooms dedicated to Roman city |
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