Archaeological Museum of San Lorenzo, Cremona

The Museo Archeologico San Lorenzo is an archaeological museum of Roman and Medieval antiquities in the town of Cremona, northern Italy.

Site and building
The museum is located on the northern end of Cremona’s historical center, at about a 10 minutes walk from the city’s cathedral square. Outside, the museum is admittedly not much impressive; nevertheless, it looks quite better inside.

Housed in the former Romanesque church of San Lorenzo (from which the museum takes its name) built in the 12th century on a former 5th-century early-Christian burial ground, together with an antique artifact collection, the museum presents on-site archaeological excavations of structures dating back to the late Roman empire age and the early Middle Ages.

Along with an antique artifacts collection, the Archaeological Museum of Cremona features an excavations site with remains of buildings dating back to the ancient Roman empire, and the early Middle-ages; photos © Inexhibit

Many exhibits are displayed in glass cases mounted on large “monoliths” made in polished black-steel

Permanent collection and exhibition
The permanent collection of the Archaeological Museum San Lorenzo comprises sculptures, amphorae, architectural artifacts, jewels, everyday objects, tableware, and mosaics mostly dating back to the Roman Empire era.

Housed in two main exhibition galleries, the permanent exhibition is divided into three thematic sections. The first section, divided into 22 chapters, is dedicated to the role and history of the private space in a typical ancient Roman small Italian town, such as Cremona once was.
The second section is focused on the public realm, while the third coincides with the excavation site of both a 5th-century graveyard and an early-Middle Ages monastery, dating back to the 10th century.

Smaller artifacts on view – such as vases, ornaments, and religious objects are on view in glass cases mounted on tall “monoliths” made in polished black steel and ingeniously arranged accordingly to the architectural rhythm of the old church while the largest objects – capitals, mosaics, amphorae, and sculptures – stand free on the floor along the museum’s galleries.

The museum is somewhat traditional in its inception, it lacks those multimedia exhibits so common in many archaeological museums today, replaced by more “old-fashioned” description panels in Italian and English, something I appreciate, honestly. Overall, though not comparable to that of larger and more prestigious archaeological museums in Italy, the exhibition here is an interesting and pleasant experience, IMHO.

The exhibition is carefully tuned with the surrounding Romanesque architecture

Antique amphorae and other objects on view in the museum

An exhibition room housed in one of the side chapels of the medieval church with an ancient Roman-decorated sarcophagus

Cover image: a view of the main hall of the Archaeological Museum of Cremona, with large Roman mosaics arranged on the ground
All photos © Inexhibit, all rights reserved