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Veroli Civic Museum: Ancient Artefacts Beneath the Town Hall
The Civic Museum of Veroli is housed in the rooms of the Palazzo Municipale (Council House), whose origins go back to the first half of the 12th century. The museum complements the smaller collection held in the Giovardiana Library, and preserves artefacts ranging from the 6th century BC to the Roman period. Here, visitors don't just look at display cases, they can go down and see the ancient structures of the town.
Two enthusiasts, an entire collection
Much of the material comes from the work of Giovanni "Nino" Papetti and Arduino Scaccia Scarafoni. Papetti, honorary inspector of Antiquities, recovered artefacts linked to votive offerings from the 4th–3rd century BC in the Antera and Sant'Angelo in Villa areas, as well as a trilobate oinochoe (pitcher) from the so-called "Phantom Group," found in Via Gracilia. Scaccia Scarafoni, known as "the horse painter," unearthed a monumental sarcophagus made of local stone in the Case Branca district, with a gabled lid. It is now on display in the room dedicated to funerary cults at the Civic Museum.
What you see going down
On the lower floor, there is a stretch of polygonal masonry wall with rusticated ashlar. The same wall continues underneath the adjacent Palazzo Mazzoli, adjoining the Town Hall on the south side. Objects on display include a fragmentary antefix depicting the Potnia Theron (the "Mistress of Animals") and two Roman inscriptions: one dedicated to Gracchus, praefectus fabrum, and the other to Lucius Alfius Valentinus, duovir (magistrate) of Verulae and curator rei publicae (curator of the city-state) of the colony of Casinum.
