The Museo Archeologico in Cupra Marittima opened in 1999 during the presentation of the Parco Archeologico in Cupra Marittima project, designed to protect and promote the site of the ancient Roman city.

The Roman section of the museum is situated on the first floor of Palazzo Cipolletti. The display presents the main architectural developments in the Roman town, as well as reflecting on the socioeconomic situation in one of Piceno’s most important ports.

The museum is on the site of the ancient town of Cupra Marittima, in the village of Civita di Marano, which stands on a hill overlooking the sea where the mediaeval village became established. Many echoes of the Middle Ages can still be seen today in its narrow streets and characteristic buildings.

Spread over three floors, the museum narrative comprises three sections:

• The Piceno section occupies the ground floor of the building, immediately behind the entrance and ticket office, where a small bookshop is also found.The Museum aims to paint a picture of the community of the Cuprenses, the Piceni of Cupra, during the peak of demographic, cultural and economic expansion, between the fourth and fifth centuries B.C.The Cuprense community is illustrated through the presentation of various fundamental aspects of its everyday life:funerary rites, housing, typical customs and local costume, and specific crafts.
• The prehistoric section, still under development, will occupy three rooms on the second floor of the museum site and will illustrate the presence of humans in the Cupra Marittima area from the Lower Palaeolithic to the Neolithic and the Bronze Age.
• The Roman section occupies the first floor of Palazzo Cipolletti and extends over three rooms.The display begins with the institution of the municipality of Cupra Marittima, in around 49 B.C., which then became a flourishing commercial centre during the Imperial period.The archaeological sources tell its history from this point onwards.