Como

Paolo Giovio Archaeological Museum, Como

Prehistoric and Roman Como in Palazzo Giovio: from the Prestino stele to the horsemen frieze, with nineteenth-century collections from Egypt and Greece.

Visit duration: 1 h – 2 h
Booking: Not required
Area: First Basin

Carlo Cattaneo fotografie · CC BY-SA 4.0

Carlo Dell'Orto · CC BY-SA 4.0
Carlo Dell'Orto · CC BY-SA 4.0
Carlo Dell'Orto · CC BY-SA 4.0

Why go

The Museo archeologico Paolo Giovio holds finds tracing the history of Como and its territory from prehistory to Roman times, alongside nineteenth-century collections.

Inaugurated in 1897 in the Giovio counts' town residence, it occupies Palazzi Giovio, Lucini and Olginati on Piazza Medaglie d'Oro. Major groups include finds from the Ca' Morta burial ground associated with the Golasecca culture, and Roman objects such as the horsemen frieze and portrait of Augustus. Donations by Alfonso Garovaglio and Innocenzo Regazzoni include Egyptian objects, Greek vases, gems and prehistoric collections.

Pre-Roman and Roman Como, told through finds from the town and the land around it.
The collections of a nineteenth-century collector: Egypt, Greek vases, gems and coins.

Highlights

The Prestino stele with its Lepontic inscription
The Roman frieze with the parade of horsemen
The mummy of Isiuret and the Egyptian finds
The Greek vases of the Sala Perrone
The courtyard and the garden with the nymphaeum

Getting there

It is at Piazza Medaglie d'Oro 1, inside the walled town, a few minutes on foot from the Duomo; the museum lies inside the limited-traffic zone.

From the portico with its stone columns: the gravelled courtyard and, at the end, the garden with the staircase and the nymphaeum among the trees.

Accessibility

The exhibition rooms are on the ground and first floors of the Giovio-Lucini and Olginati palaces. The offices and the study rooms for the finds, on the second floor of Palazzo Giovio-Lucini, are reached by stairs or by lift.