Museo Archeologico di Santa Scolastica

Top choice in Bari


Housed in a well-preserved 16th-century defensive bastion, this excellent museum reopened in late 2018 and features a superbly curated overview of the historic origins of Bari. Interactive features showcase a fascinating timeline including the city's Bronze Age and Hellenistic periods, and carefully illuminated walkways traverse the considerable remains of a medieval church dedicated to St Paul and St John. A highlight is the museum's collection of sepulchral funerary slabs dating from Roman times.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Bari attractions

1. Museo Nicolaiano

0.14 MILES

Exhibits artefacts from the adjacent Basilica di San Nicola, including chalices, vestments, parchments, relics and paintings.

2. Basilica di San Nicola

0.17 MILES

Bari's signature basilica was one of the first Norman churches to be built in southern Italy, and is a splendid (if square and solid) example of Pugliese…

3. Cathedral

0.31 MILES

Built over the original Byzantine church, the 12th- to 13th-century Romanesque cathedral, dedicated to San Sabino, is technically Bari's most important…

4. Museo del Succorpo della Cattedrale

0.31 MILES

This subterranean museum beneath Bari cathedral reveals well-preserved remnants of an ancient Christian basilica and various Roman ruins. This fascinating…

5. Colonna della Giustizia

0.33 MILES

The Colonna della Giustizia (Column of Justice) is the place where debtors were once tied and lashed (in the less gentle days of the 16th century).

6. Piazza Mercantile

0.34 MILES

This beautiful piazza is fronted by the Sedile, the headquarters of Bari's Council of Nobles. In the square's northeast corner is the Colonna della…

7. Castello Svevo

0.38 MILES

Roger the Norman originally built this castle in the 12th century over the ruins of a Byzantine structure. Later, Frederick II of Swabia built over the…

8. Spazio Murat

0.44 MILES

Check out this repurposed heritage building for an ever-changing series of interesting and innovative cultural and art displays, part of the nexus of…