About us

The Sea Museum includes six museum sections spread throughout the town: in the complex of the Wholesale Fish Market are located the Antiquarium Truentinum, the Amphorae Museum, the Museum of Maritime Civilization of Marche Region, The “Augusto Capriotti” Fish Museum, while the Sea Art Gallery and the Maritime Villa are situated in the historical area of the city called “Paese Alto”, the upper historical centre. The cultural landscape of San Benedetto is characterized by great diffusion and it was created thanks to the constant interaction between man and nature; the Sea Museum holds and collects the historical memory of this secular relationship and has the task of preserving, enhancing and transmitting its values to present and future generations.

The section named “Antiquarium Truentinum” is an archaeological museum which gathers the most ancient artefacts found in and around the city. Antiquities range from Neolitic findings to relics from the Roman era. The museum also features artefacts from the “Picentes”, Italic tribes which inhabited the area during the Iron Age.

Inside the section named “Museo delle Anfore” (the Amphorae Museum), visitors will find a unique collection of ancient urns from all over the Mediterranean region, brought ashore by the nets of fishing boats throughout the last century.

The “Augusto Capriotti” Fish Museum offers a significant insight about the Adriatic and oceanic wildlife.

The “Museo della Civiltà Marinara delle Marche” (Museum of Maritime Civilization of Marche Region), will soak its visitors in the everyday life of fishermen and their families. A narrative journey through tools and objects of the Adriatic sea life, the experience is supported by multimedia installations and located inside a suggestive space of the local fish market, where a wide balcony overlooks the whole port area.

Located inside the early nineteenth century Piacentini Palace, in the old town of San Benedetto, the “Pinacoteca del Mare” (Art Gallery of the Sea) features paintings, photographs and drawings from the town’s civic collection, including works by Alfred Châtelain, Adolfo De Carolis, Armando Marchegiani and Angelo Landi.

The Villa Marittima is the new section and was inaugurated in 2020, this important discovery put back the origins of the city by rewriting its history.

In addition to the “Museo del Mare” indoors sections, an exhibit of contemporary sculpture can be visited while taking a relaxing walk along the south quay of the city, which the yearly International Sculpture Symposium “Scultura Viva” (taking place since 1996) has gradually shaped into an open-air museum, called “Museo d'Arte sul Mare” (Museum Of Art on the Sea).