With the creation of the Celone Valley Museum System, the Municipality of Castelluccio Valmaggiore completes a path of cultural growth started years ago with the creation of other important museum sites. The works, just completed, at the museum main site find their most evident manifestation in the exhibition routes useful for communicating the value and complexity of the Celone Valley territory.

In this regard it is useful to underline the value of one of the most important valleys of the Puglia region, the “major valley” (valle maggiore), also inherent in the name of the small town that houses the museum, Castelluccio Valmaggiore. A valley that over the centuries has been one of the most significant connecting routes between Puglia and the Balkans and the rest of Italy and northern Europe. A museum, therefore, with exhibition routes that capture the visitor’s attention and push him with his mind to immerse himself in archeology, experiencing it, in the lexical sense of the term, in a roman rural settlement, which came to light in 2011 in locality “Masseria Festa” and in the habitat dedicated to the torrent that crosses the Celone valley, in line with the current contents of the exhibition space.

As with any work that comes to fruition, even for this the merits must be shared with all those who have been protagonists at various levels. Thanks, then, to those who have allowed the creation of the museum and have believed and believe in the peculiarities of our territory such as history, tradition and environment: the Puglia Region, in the people of the Councilor for culture Loredana Capone, the Authority Management for POR 2014-2020 Pasquale Orlando, the Department Manager Silvia Pellegrini; the Municipality of Castelluccio Valmaggiore, in the persons of the Mayor emeritus Rocco Grilli and the municipal council 2009-2014, the museum expert Pasquale Bloise, the designer Gioacchino Casamassima, the RUP Michele Longo, the companies involved in the project: Moire, Naturaliter, Platypus, Archeologica, Claudio Grenzi Editore, Ass. Mira, Project++.

Special thanks to Dr. Italo Muntoni and Dr. Marisa Corrente who have crumbled the walls of territorial conflicts, opening the curtain to a new scene of shared journey in the creation of a sustainable conscience, a curtain that opens in the enchantment of the Celone Valley where it is possible to get intoxicated in the poetry of uncontaminated nature.

Giuseppe Campanaro
Mayor of Castelluccio Valmaggiore

The museum, or rather the Museum System in Castelluccio Valmaggiore, was born from an idea in the summer of 2011 during an excavation for the realization of a methane pipeline. When the historical significance of the findings was understood, I began to think about what could be a museum itinerary that would unite the archaeological, historical, architectural and naturalistic testimonies present on the territory through a story that unfolded over time and that welcomed all the peculiarities of the wide area of the Celone Valley.

The Celone Valley Museum System aims to be a model through which the obsolete static idea of exposures, the separation of single fields of interest and above all the geopolitical boundaries of the area of interest should be “re-expanded”. From the simple discovery of an artifact, one can investigate the peculiarities of a territory and how its natural resources affect the life and dynamics of the population.

The Museum houses an archaeological and a naturalistic section to which, in a relevant way, is accompanied by an educational section equipped with the most modern equipment. The Byzantine tower, the Naturalistic Observatory, the Park House are the structures that complete the ‘System’ to which the museum educational structures of the whole area of the Celone Valley will join. The study, for the enhancement and conservation of the territory, becomes a unique for all the inhabitants of the ‘Valley’. Only by combining and harmonizing the interventions will we be able to guarantee a sustainable future.

Pasquale Bloise
Managing Director of Celone Valley Museum System