The Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Taranto (MArTA) holds one of the most important collections of Magna Graecia art in the world — and its star attraction, the Ori di Taranto (Gold of Taranto), is the single greatest collection of ancient Greek gold jewelry outside the Athens National Museum. Taranto (ancient Taras) was founded by Spartans in 706 BC and became one of the richest cities in the Greek world. Its goldsmiths created jewelry of a delicacy and technical sophistication that modern jewelers struggle to replicate: filigree wreaths with individual leaves thinner than paper, earrings depicting Nike driving a two-horse chariot 3cm wide, necklaces with hundreds of individually formed gold beads. The museum renovated in 2016 is beautifully displayed, almost empty, and contains more archaeological treasure than most national museums. Puglia guide →
Plan my Puglia trip →Ori di Taranto (Gold Room): The jewels are displayed in a dark room with spot lighting — each piece glows against black. The crown of oak leaves and acorns (4th century BC, found in a noblewoman's tomb): individual leaves of hammered gold, so thin they tremble when you breathe near the case. Earrings with micro-granulation (tiny gold spheres soldered individually — a technique lost for 2,000 years and only recently rediscovered). Rings, bracelets, pendants — the cumulative effect of seeing this much ancient gold artistry is dizzying.
The terracotta collection: MArTA has the largest collection of Greek terracotta figurines from Magna Graecia — thousands of small sculptures depicting everyday life, theater, religion, and mythology. The quality varies from mass-produced votives to hand-modeled portraits of haunting realism. Greek pottery: Apulian red-figure vases (Taranto was the center of 4th-century BC South Italian pottery production) — elaborate mythological scenes, theater scenes, and funerary imagery. The Vaso di Dario (depicting the Persian king) is a masterwork.
Address: Via Cavour 10, Taranto (old city, near Castello Aragonese). Tickets: €8. Hours: Tue-Sat 8:30am-7:30pm, Sun 9am-1pm. Closed Mondays. Duration: 1.5-2.5 hours. Getting there: Taranto station (Trenitalia from Bari 1.5h, from Lecce 1.5h). Museum is 10min walk from the station. Combine with: Taranto old city (the island between two seas — atmospheric, rough, genuine), Castello Aragonese (free), Puglia Ionian coast, Lecce (1h), Matera (1h).