An Unforgettable Museum Visit in Bari, Italy

Hello friends. 🤗 A few months ago during my visit to Bari, I met up with some friends and we went to a museum together and had lunch at a restaurant. I’d like to share with you some of the wonderful memories from that trip. We started by visiting the Bari Archaeological Museum. At that time there was an intriguing exhibition by the Italian designer Gaetano Pesce. The weather in the city was fantastic, making it a perfect day to explore.

We arrived at the museum, which is located right next to the new large harbor. I usually see big cruise ships passing by when I’m in this area. We tried to find the entrance, but the Santa Scolastica side seemed to be closed. We circled around nd eventually found the entrance, which required us to climb over a wall. There’s a small square along this beautiful coastal stretch of Bari and the Santa Scolastica Archaeological Museum is located there. We entered Gaetano Pesce’s vase exhibition.

Once inside we saw several vases, including one particularly interesting Medusa vase that looked as if it had hair, like a woman’s hair. At first I wondered if it was hair or tree roots, but it turned out to be Medusa. I thought they were made of glass, but when I touched them I realized they were indeed plastic. Each vase was a work of art, but the fact that they were made of plastic bothered me a little. If I had them at home I would want to touch them, but I’m not too fond of plastic. This is just my personal opinion of course, as the exhibition was certainly interesting and a product of a creative imagination.

Since the exhibition was held in an archaeological museum, we saw the modern vases and also explored other exhibits in the museum. We started to walk around, curious to see what else was there. As we went further we saw more of Gaetano Pesce’s vases, again made of plastic. Then, we came across ancient vases, which were very fascinating. The Archaeological Museum of Santa Scolastica is located at the excavation site of Benedictine monks and here you can see the city’s history, starting from the Bronze Age.

In 1053 a Benedictine monastery was established here and in the 16th century, an Aragonese defensive tower was built next to the monastery. Active archaeological excavations are ongoing here and these excavations have revealed traces of human habitation dating back to the Bronze Age. Most of the findings belong to the Early Greek period. Inside the museum, the foundations of the first church dedicated to Saints John and Paul, built in 1053 were also uncovered. The archaeological route begins at the Aragonese Tower. Here, you can see the different stages of the city’s development, artifacts from the Bronze Age, many Greek ceramics from the 5th century bce and Greek bronze helmets from the same period. And archaeologists have found pieces of city wall dating back to the 5th century bce. The museum also houses many artifacts from the Roman and Byzantine periods.

The museum has several exhibition halls. There is a section displaying ceramic collections from the Greeks and Peucetians who lived in the ancient region of Apulia. Here you can find ceramics from the prehistoric and proto-historic periods of the Bari lands. There’s also a section dedicated to the artifacts of the ancient Apulian peoples, where the ceramics are quite remarkable. Another section is devoted to Bari archaeology and monastic life.

These vases appeal to me more. For example, a funerary vase excavated from a tomb… It had a fast-moving figure on it, which was interesting. Small vases, small plates,they looked almost like toys. There were also ancient coins and fishing hooks. They haven’t changed much since ancient times. For example, a ring, it was quite similar in antiquity and fingers haven’t changed much either since then.

Bronze helmets, underground excavations... many fascinating things hidden beneath the old city of Bari. For example, there was a mosaic made of small pieces, like the one in the Church of Maria de Bon Consili. A tower of the wall that once protected the old city of Bari was located here. In this collection, for instance there’s a ceramic vase dating back to the 6th century bce. Can you believe it how ancient it is. Another vase from the 6th century bce also featured a swastika symbol. This asymmetrical vase, adorned with geometric patterns, dates back to 380-360 bce. These large vases are so old. There are even depictions of Dionysus drinking wine. It’s a fascinating exhibition and I was particularly interested in the section that provided information about the monastery.

There was a sarcophagus, a large one that occupied a wide area. There used to be a bastion here, but then the monastery was built, the bastion was demolished and the monastery was established. After leaving the dark hall and arriving here, everything suddenly seemed bright and sunny. There was a marble piece dating from the first or second century. And we saw a cesspit. I thought it was a well at first, but my friend said "No, this isn’t a well. It’s a pit." Many of the artifacts you can see in this amazing museum today were found among the trash heaps in this pit. Although not all of them, the pottery and a large vase excavated from this pit are also on display here. You see, a single cesspit can yield so many valuable historical artifacts. These pieces from different ages and periods are truly fascinating. If you look at the timeline, you can see which period they belong to. The vase here is not that old, it’s only an Apulian vase from 355-345 bce. My friend and I debated this. She said "Historically, this is almost like yesterday." But I think like an ordinary person. The years 355-345 bce seem like a very, very long time ago to me. Although we disagreed about the vase, there are many vases here. These ceramics were common in the Daunia region. Perhaps they were used for storing oil or wine. I’ve never seen double-sided jugs before. The interesting thing is that one side has holes while the other side doesn’t. They were probably used for storing other things like spices.

Unfortunately the purpose of these ceramics is not indicated here. The vase with horse and mermaid figures is very beautiful. These vases dating from the fifth century, were brought from different regions of Apulia. For example, from Riva di Puglia. These vases, which look like they’re made of wood are actually ceramic. Some containers inspired by ancient Persian traditions were used as ceremonial cups. The exhibition here is full of ancient vases and it was really impressive. For example, there was a gigantic vase that had been pieced together. The shapes of these vases were very interesting. Some reminded me of whistles from Colomba, but what we saw here was completely different. For instance, there were angel figures and unidentified creatures on a vase or jug.

One of these ancient vases tells the story of Troy. Those who have seen the movie will remember it. Hector's death scene is depicted here. Father Priam mourns Hector's death and the weapons are displayed on the monument. We thought the inscriptions on these fifth-century vases were in Greek. The vases here are from Apulia and are traditional Greek vases from the Greek colonies. There are also red-figure vases from the Greater Greece period. In these Apulian ceramics, black paint and varnish from the Daunia period were used. I'm not a ceramics expert, but these pieces are remarkably well-preserved.

There were also bronze and terracotta figures. It was a beautiful and intriguing exhibition. I toured with a friend who loves the ancient Greek period and has a wealth of interesting knowledge. Having someone knowledgeable with you while visiting a museum makes a big difference. Here, there were vessels related to rituals used in ceremonies. These fascinating objects are displayed in the museum and you can see the figures we remember from school books come to life here.

This is a historic site located in the old part of the city of Bari, amidst the ruins. A place where only columns and mosaic fragments remain. Unfortunately this historic site is not well-preserved and there are cigarette butts on the mosaics. Perhaps it should have been better protected. Still the flower motifs in the mosaics are very beautiful. By the way while walking around, I found a small bookstore, which I plan to explore in more detail next time I visit.

I got a little hungry, so we went to a place that was like a Georgian restaurant. The portions on the menu were large, but everything was delicious. We had a lovely day. I plan to include more about my trip to Bari in my future posts.