Lungo la sabbia e l'acqua dell'Adriatico, per il mosaico di terre in collina, verso la magia di pietra dei Sibillini, nel cuore antico dei paesi con le audioguide Travelcast Piceno
On the ground floor of the Palazzo Comunale, adjacent to the Piazza Donna Bianca de Tharolis, is the Municipal Archeological Museum, dedicated to Don Cesare Cellini, who founded it in 1877 with his private collection. This museum houses approximately four thousand artifacts, of which five hundred are exhibited. These range from prehistory through the Roman era, to the Middle Ages and, finally to our Modern age. The artifacts confirm the presence of humans in ancient times, as well as attesting to the rich history of these hills. They were collected by means of systematic excavations and occasional accidental discoveries in the territories of Ripatransone, Grottammare, Cupra Marittima, Offida, and other nearby towns.
The halls of the museum follow a chronological order beginning with the carved flint of the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, and proceeding to the Bronze and Iron Ages. It was during the Iron Age that the Picena civilization asserted itself, lending its name to the entire Province. When the members of the ancient Italic tribes became excessively numerous, the new generations would depart in search of favorable territories. Migration took place at the end of the winter season and came to be called “sacred springtime”. The younger adults would leave the village following the path of a sacred animal. One of these migrations followed the flight of a woodpecker (picus in Latin), and this new tribe took on its name, settling in this territory. The Piceni populations were allied with Rome, but at times rebelled against its expansion and occupation of the Marche territories south of Ancona and the northern part of the Abruzzo region. Their civilization left behind coins, pottery, lamps, sculptures, and inscriptions in a language that is still partially a mystery. In several of their tombs, jewels and weapons were found, as well as large iron rings called armille, which became the symbol of this population, but whose use is not yet understood. In the section of the museum dedicated to the Roman era, a bust of Venus and a discus merit the attention of visitors. Local people are reminded of the religious and sentimental character of their ancestors through small sculptures of Egyptian origin, which reached them by sea and are tied to oriental cults, while a rare monumental funerary urn and other funeral objects, present particularly lovely images. In contrast, the medieval section mostly houses sculptures from several ancient churches of Ripatransone, such as a baptismal font adorned with figures of griffins. One object that arouses curiosity is a stone slab with three ungainly, disproportionate figures, which might easily represent an ex-voto, or votive offering.
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