Descrizione
The former premises of the Convent of St Augustine are now home to the ‘G. C. Corsi’ Archaeological and Via Flaminia Museum. It is a place that immerses us in Cantiano’s distant past.
The first section is devoted to geopalaeontology and, it must be said, brings to light Cantiano’s prehistory, when, in place of the hills and mountains, there was once a vast coral archipelago. The star of the show is Ugo, a large amphibious reptile that lived even before the dinosaurs, whose features have been reconstructed on the basis of footprints found on the slopes of Mount Catria. Prehistory is followed by the history of the first human settlements in the museum’s archaeological section.
The two main exhibits on display are a milestone from the Via Flaminia – a forerunner of our modern road signs – on which the perfectly calculated distance between Rome and Cantiano is indicated, and the ‘Bronzetto’. The latter is a small statue that is almost oracular in the way it reveals, through its features, the uniqueness that sets Cantiano apart. The Picene helmet, the face with its unmistakable Etruscan features and the sturdy body characteristic of Umbrian statuettes are proof that Cantiano was always a borderland, a crossroads linking Etruria and Piceno, the Marche and Umbria.
There is no shortage of numerous other artefacts: fibulae, pots, tweezers, mirror fragments, arrowheads and coins. These may be ‘humble’ objects, but they provide a rich insight into the daily life of the Roman settlers, who rested here after the rigours of war, and into the subsequent historical period, marked by sieges and fierce battles.
