The main museum of the city, Museo del Sannio, is divided into four sections: archeology, medieval, art and history. Located in different locations, all of great historical value.
The archaeological section is housed in the magnificent roman cloister of the church of Santa Sofia, also included in the Unesco Heritage. Built between 1142 and 1176 by Abbot John IV, reusing parts of the already existing cloister, dating back to the 8th century and destroyed by an earthquake. The Moorish influence is evident everywhere, due to the great amount of Arab workers in the city. The new cloister is characterized by a quadrangular plan and has a series of fifteen windows with four openings and one with three openings. The capitals of the columns are really special, one different from the other, with human, fantastic, and animal figures. In the southwestern corner of the cloister lies one of the oldest iconographic representations of the birth of Jesus.
The endowment of ancient findings is vast and varied, originally ordered in 1873 by the great Mommsen. It includes finding of Samnite and Magna Grecia, with clay statuettes from Taranto and vases of great workmanship. Among them, an Apulian amphora with scrolls stands out. Belonging to the roman periods are the acephalous busts of Trajan and his wife Plotina, found near the Trajan’s arch, and the reliefs on numera gladiators found near the Roman theater.
The section of the arts and popular traditions of Benevento in different eras and the historical one are kept in Rocca dei Rettori and Palazzo Casiello. The collections of weapons, coins and prints are also of great interest.
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