Museo Civico Turella Parva Turris

The Turella Parva Turris Civic Museum is located inside the Ruspoli-Candriano Castle in Torella dei Lombardi.

Established to house the artefacts found during the archaeological investigations carried out at the fortress between 1993 and 1997 by the architect Marcello Rotili, the exhibition takes up the rooms on the second level of the Castle and is connected to the visitor route through the ancient manor. In order to set up this itinerary, the space previously occupied by the "Hanging Garden", an embankment built near the boundary wall and towers, was adopted. After the garden was emptied out and the oldest structures of the building restored, the walking area was recreated with a concrete floor with four skylights, enabling access to the defences and the tower.

Inside the Turella Parva Turris Civic Museum there are twelve display cases, descriptive panels, and graphic reliefs, distributed across five rooms, offering a comprehensive sample of the 30,000 finds discovered during the excavations. 
The museum itinerary highlights some of the most significant items produced in the medieval period: the painted ceramics in a lead display case from the period between the 13th and 14th centuries, the proto-maiolica dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, and the etched ceramics produced between the 14th and 15th centuries. Amphorae of various sizes and jugs represent the production of achromatic ceramics, painted in various shades of red and brown. There is no shortage of kitchen artefacts, such as vases - earthenware pots with tubular or loop handles and lids, dating back to the medieval and modern period. Artefacts featuring designs in blue glaze, in addition to the numerous white monochrome glazed plates, mugs, bottles, micro jars, bowls, oil jugs, and lamps should also be attributed to the late Middle Ages and the modern age. Equally rich is the repertoire of glazed ceramics from the 17th to 18th centuries, including dishes decorated with the coat of arms of the Caracciolo family, with a shield banded in gold and a chief in blue, as well as two dishes certainly of Ariano production, decorated respectively with an angel bust and a female bust. The pitcher, decorated with an oval edging in ochre, features the heraldic shield of the Orsini family, testifying to their kinship with the Saracens.

The Turella Parva Turris Civic Museum not only makes artefacts that represent precious evidence of the life and culture of Torella accessible to the public, but also provides a detailed account illustrated by archaeological finds and materials that have survived to the present day.