Brindisi Provincial Archaeological Museum, located on Piazza Duomo, accommodates an important collection of finds spanning from prehistory to the Roman Age, with sections dedicated to epigraphy, sculpture and underwater archaeology. Founded in 1884 and housed in the current building since 2009, the museum is dedicated to Francesco Ribezzo, a researcher in the field of Messapian civilization.
The tour of the museum begins in the outer portico, which leads the visitor into the discovery of the different civilizations that had followed one another on the territory. Particularly valuable are the bronzes discovered in the waters of Punta del Serrone, among which are sculptures and fragments of anatomical parts and draperies which were on board of a sunken vessel. The rich collection of ceramics displays pottery of Greek origin and crockery of local craftsmanship which dates back to between the 7th and the 3rd century BC. The epigraphic section includes inscriptions in Latin, while the one dedicated to statuary comprises togate and cuirassed figures as well as female figures dating back to between the 1st and 2nd century AD.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.