Parco Archeologico e Antiquarium di Castelseprio

The Archaeological Park includes, in a rich wooded setting, the remains of a castrum developed in the fifth century A.D. on pre-existing military sites of the fourth century A.D.. It is surrounded by powerful towered walls, which also defend the area of the outpost of the valley floor known as the Monastery of Torba (owned by the FAI).

The territory of Castelseprio is frequented from pre-protohistoric times (X-IX/VIII century B.C.) to the end of the 16th century when the parish functions of the complex of the basilica of S. Giovanni and its baptistery died out due to the general abandonment of the place, passing to the nearby church of Carnago.
A long and glorious epicentre, which has its epicentres in the Gothic age (5th/6th century), when Castelseprio became an important castrum of the subalpine fortified system, with wide-ranging connections; in the Longobard age (late 6th century-774) and, later, Carolingian, when it became the juridical-administrative centre of a large territory.

The first archaeological finds in the area date back to 1809 and were made by the nobleman Giacomo Perucchetti. Subsequent investigations, aimed at recovering collectors’ items, were conducted by Antonio Corbellini and Count Luigi Archinto, whose family owned much of the land in Castelseprio.

Between 1946 and 1958 the director of the Civic Museums of Varese Mario Bertolone and the Superintendent of Lombardy Mario Mirabella Roberti investigated the area of the castrum and the village, carrying out clearing work and removal of rubble, and work that brought to light the outcropping monuments and highlighted the shape and extent of the castrum. Excavations, investigations and restoration continued in the following years, with successive campaigns: in 1962-1963, then between 1965 and 1973, and finally between 1977 and 1981.

Since 1980, the Superintendency has been carrying out new clearing work and, using up-to-date research methods, has been conducting excavations in parts of the castrum, the village and in Torba. The most recent investigations, which are still ongoing, take place as part of university research projects, with excavations under concession.

The area, immersed in a rich woodland setting, covers an area of approximately 130,000 square metres (of which approximately 55,000 square metres are open to the public) and is located at the northern end of the territory of the municipality of Castelseprio, on a plateau overlooking the middle Valle Olona.

Also part of the park is the Antiquarium, opened to the public in April 2009. Here are illustrated, through the testimonies of the material culture, the events of this place rich in history, from the proto-historic settlement (X-IX/VIII century B.C.) to the birth of the castrum (V/VI century A.D.), to the Visconti destruction in 1287, to the final abandonment in the XVI/XVII century A.D.

The castrum and village complex, together with six other Italian localities, is part of the UNESCO serial site ‘The Lombards in Italy. Places of power (568-774 A.D.)’, inscribed on the World Cultural Heritage list since 2011.

The Archaeological Park of Castelseprio is managed by the Regional Museums Directorate of Lombardy. Of the 130,000 square metres on which the archaeological area extends, 33,000 square metres are owned by the Province of Varese, with which a lease was signed in 2002 that is still in force. The Monastery of Torba, in the lower sector of the Olona River Valley, is instead owned by the FAI.

The Archaeological Park of Castelseprio participates in the project Musei Polisensoriali (Polysensorial Museums) to overcome barriers that prevent people with sensory or cognitive disabilities from enjoying the cultural heritage.

Here you will find all the tools prepared as aids for the visit

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  S Maria Foris Portas