Ragusa, April 24, 2023 — Eventually, in Ragusa, the Ibleo Archaeological Museum (Museo Archeologico Ibleo) has reopened.
In the presence of the mayor (Giuseppe Cassì), the councilor for culture (Clorinda Arezzo), the authorities, eminent archaeologists (Lorenzo Guzzardi, Maria Costanza Lentini, Saverio Scerra, Giacomo Pace…), experts (Antonino De Marco, Domenico Buzzone, Silvio Cassarino…) and many citizens, the ‘ribbon’ was cut. A round of applause was given to prof. Giovanni Di Stefano, former director of the Archaeological Park of Camarina Cava d’Ispica who contributed a lot to the setting up of the museum.
Prof. Massimo Cultraro (CNR Catania, University of Palermo) presented a new acquisition of the museum, a collection of prehistoric, Minoan and late-Helledic finds dating back to the archaeologist Biagio Pace (1889-1955), one of the founders of the Ragusa’s museum, partly from the Italian Archaeological School of Athens. The collection was acquired in 1972 from the Archaeological Superintendence of Eastern Sicily. Cultraro has reconstructed the historical events of the collection which contains some important finds from the sites of Kalavarda and Trianda (Greece). Cultraro says: “The Aegean collection of Ragusa is part of other collections of prehistoric materials from Greece preserved in some important Italian museums, but there are two main credits that must be credited to it: the first is the careful selection of material, which covers a wide chronological arc and includes the most important main ceramic classes of the Aegean; the second is the discovery of new materials from Kalavarda which allow you to integrate and complete the kits of the Mycenaean tombs now preserved at the National Museum of Florence”.
In the photo gallery some moments of the event.
(ph © Biancavela Press / salvomic, Leica Q2, 28mm)