The museum was established in 1885 and is located at Palazzo Cuttica in Cassine, an eighteenth-century noble residence in the city center. It is not a purely archaeological museum, since inside there are preserved tapestries and sacred vestments that belonged to Pius V – the only Piedmontese Pope – as well as memorabilia related to Napoleon Bonaparte.
As for the archaeological section, it includes the finds of the Di Negro Carpani collection (named after the nineteenth-century collector), dating back to a time span from the protohistorical age to the early medieval phase. They come mainly from funerary areas: the oldest materials (polished stone axes, bronze buttons and fibulae, ceramic remains) date back to the 3rd-2nd century BC.
The Roman age is evidenced by the finds, such as oil lamps, glass ointments, ceramic vases, coming from a necropolis (1st-3rd century AD) located along the Postumia, a street that connected Genoa to Aquileia. The materials of the late ancient and early medieval phase testify instead to the key role played by Dertona (today Tortona), located along two important road axes, the Postumia and the Aemilia Scauri (which connected Tortona to ancient Carrara, passing through Liguria). As regards the epigraphic material, it comes in particular from the church of SS. Simone and Judas (which no longer exist).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION AND VISITS
Located at Palazzo Cuttica in Cassine (via Parma 1, Alessandria; coordinates Lat. 44°54’44.39″N, Long. 8°37’0.75″E), the museum is open for visits on Saturdays and Sundays, from 3 pm to 7 pm. For up-to-date information, please visit the website: http://www.asmcostruireinsieme.it/palazzo-cuttica/