The Civic Museum of Archaeology and the City of Savona and its educational activities

The beginnings

The diversified and articulated experience of museum didactics implemented, since its first year of opening (1990), by the Civic Archaeological and City Museum of Savona-managed on behalf of the Municipal Administration, by the International Institute of Ligurian Studies-has been edited in the volume “Experiences and Projects in Museum Didactics,” which constitutes one of the “Quaderni del Museo.” Several projects implemented in the specific field of school education are presented in the book.
Of particular note are the educational projects “Archaeology in the Courtyard”(1998-99), “School of Archaeology” (1990-2000) and “Still Archaeology” (2000-01) implemented with the close collaboration of the Pertini State Middle School, the Savona Municipal Administration, MIC, the University of Genoa and IISL, carried out throughout the indicated school years with lessons at school. These projects, also reported by the Museum Didactics Center of Roma3 University, are related to the start of archaeological investigations in the area of the Colombo-Pertini schoolyard in the area of the ancient Cassari district. These investigations became indispensable in order to resolve historical issues related to the study of the evolution of urban settlement in Savona between late antiquity and the late Middle Ages.

The archaeological excavation, under a ministerial concession, entrusted to IISL, which worked with the collaboration of UNIGE, was conducted by researchers, graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Genoa, Turin, Rome, Vercelli, and Milan under the direction of Carlo Varaldo, Rita Lavagna and Fabrizio Benente. We also mention “Archaeology Project” (2001-03) related to heritage education, with the concept “looking at reality with a different eye/signs of culture and history around us.”
Also noteworthy are: “Project Network,” 1994-95, with a middle school in the district, aimed at the stratigraphy of the elevations of a masonry within the museum spaces; “Specific lessons on the reading of ceramic finds,” 1995-96, with Istituto Magistrale Della Rovere, aimed at raising awareness of the importance of this productive sector in the Savona center from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age; some experimental workshops such as the exercise “The Excavation Box” held at an elementary school as part of an internship experience of a class of the Istituto Magistrale Della Rovere;”Project Cicerone,” 1999-2000 with the Mazzini Vocational Institute, related to “learning to read works of art also as iconographic, historical, and cultural evidence in order to realize that the cultural good is a common good.” With this in mind, the boys of the High School became “ciceroni” to the younger children explaining to them the function and history of the Priamàr complex.

Our activities in progress

The Civic Museum of Archaeology and the City of Savona, based on the Priamàr in the Palazzo della Loggia, will also prepare for the school year 2023-2024, for all schools of all levels, the educational workshops that have been, since its opening in 1990, one of the excellences of the museum structure. It is precisely on this aspect that it is significant how the Savona Museum came second, in 2016/17, in the vote of experts in the field at the fourth edition of the “Francovich Prize,” an award “destined for the museum or archaeological park that, at the national level, represents a case of best practice in museographic layout, educational-communicative activities and scientific quality that can adequately represent the themes of post-classical archaeology.”

The museum is free of architectural barriers and thus allows the visit of people with mobility impairments. Pupils who are blind or visually impaired will be able to follow the tour thanks to the presence of a special route with braille panels and numerous tactile points. The routes can be modified for children with disabilities.

The staff is available to set up or follow ad hoc educational paths according to the needs of teachers or schools. Workshops and activities are updated annually to keep up with the times and school needs.

The Civic Museum’s activities also cater to individual families, to whom workshops are offered in the afternoon or evening hours, and to adults, with guided tours in several languages (Italian, English, French and German) of the museum spaces, archaeological areas, monumental complex and its basement. Visitors to the museum can take advantage of audio guides and in-depth information via the QR Code system.

Lab activities, by reservation only, can be held Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The duration of each module is 1 hour-1 1/2 hours

Cost:

6 € per pupil;

8 € per pupil with the combination of the educational activity with a guided tour of the fortress, or the archaeological areas or basement. Free admission for teachers and chaperones. The materials used in the workshops are entirely provided by the Museum, and for some modules the final paper remains with the students.

The workshops are structured in two parts: a brief introduction will explain the activity they are going to do in the teaching area; the second part will be hands-on. Some workshops are repeated in the various school orders, but the content and terminology are calibrated to the needs of the class.

Tours are adaptable for any age and class. Tours can be modified for children with disabilities. Staff are available to set up or follow ad hoc educational tours according to the needs of teachers or schools.

To book the educational activity, you must fill out the form accessible from the link below and send it to info@museoarcheosavona.it

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