Museo e Parco archeologico nazionale di Locri

The National archaeological Park of Locri, one of the largest in Calabria, is located along the road SS 106 "Jonica" at 5 km from the modern city of Locri, on the site of the Magna Graecia colony of Lokroi Epizephyroi.The park consists of two exhibition realities: the National archaeological Museum, inaugurated in the 1971 under the name of "Antiquarium di Locri" and declared a national museum in 1998, and the Casino Macrì museum complex, that display the testimonies referable to the Roman and late-ancient age.The protohistoric age of the Locride is documented in the "Museum of the territory" of Palazzo Teotino Nieddu del Rio, in the center of Locri, inaugurated in 2018.Four visit itineraries are offered to the public.The first one starts from the Museum of the Greek polis and crosses the eastern and northern areas presenting sections of the walls, two defensive towers, one access gates of the city, the shrine of Tesmophorion and the sacred area of Marasà.The second path leads the visitor to the southern sector, where there are the sacred area dedicated to Zeus dazzles, the Porta Portuense with a mighty wall structure, further sections of the walls, the House of the Lions with the Shrine dedicated to Aphrodite and the Door of Aphrodite, the residential and handicraft district of the Centocamere locality and the so-called U-shaped Stoà. A third route starts from the Centocamere district and reaches the Petrara area, with the remains of the probable Forum and a thermal building.In the area there is the Casino Macrì Museum Complex, which consists of a nineteenth-century farmhouse and two colonial buildings. On the second floor of the main building the museum of Roman Locri has been set up. Among the exhibited artefacts, it is worth mentioning the beautiful marble statue-portrait of the “Togato” from the forum area, the Tub of Aleppo, one of the few examples of large artefacts made with a rare marble from the island of Chios, and the golden bract with the Adoration of the Magi belonging to a reliquary from the 7th century AD.The last itinerary leads the visitor to Dromo, with a fragmented part of the city wall, and to Pirettina, where the Greek-Roman Theatre is located.Particular attention is paid to younger visitors with the Children's Museum, encouraging the use of the historical and archaeological heritage of Locri.