The Museo Archeologico of Sperlonga is located near the Villa of Tiberius. It houses mainly objects found in this villa and its cave since 1957. Particularly interesting are the sculpture groups that used to stand at the entrance to the Grotto of Tiberius.
Archaeological Museum Sperlonga
Address, Opening Hours, Admission
The address of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale ‘Grotta di Tiberio’ is Via Flacca, Km 16,600, 04029 Sperlonga (tel. +39 0771548028). Opening hours: 08.30 to 19.30. Closed: January 1st, May 1st, December 25th. Entrance fee: 5 Euro. Discount: 2,50 Euro.
History and highlights
The main attractions of this museum are the marble sculpture groups that were originally located at the entrance to the cave and depict scenes from Homer’s “Odyssey”.
These sculptures have been reassembled from thousands of small parts found by chance during work.
It is likely that the sculptures were made by three famous sculptors from Rhodes, namely Atenodoro, Agesandro and Polidero (whose famous Laocoonte is on display in the Vatican Museums in Rome).
Events depicted include Scylla’s attack on Odysseus’ ship, the blinding of the cyclops Poliphemos, and Odysseus lifting the corpse of Achilles.
Other objects testify to later embellishments of the villa, which, even after the departure of Tiberius himself, remained inhabited for a long time.