Museo dell'Abbazia di Casamari

The collection comprises Roman period materials from Cereatae Marianae, the Roman centre on which the Abbey was built. Beside them there are some paleontological findings (tusks of elephas antiquus), prehistoric and pre-Roman period artefacts (arrow points and a dagger of the 3rd millennium B.C.), and objects from the Liri valley and the necropolis of Oria in Puglia. In the educational panels, particular attention has been dedicated to students, for whom drawings and very short explanatory texts have been prepared. Beside the findings and in the showcases, there are some graphic reconstructions that help in understanding their original aspect and their function. Cereatae was located along an ancient road that connected via Latina with the Sora road junction. Traces of this road have been located in the garden of the library, where a section of it is still visible, and near the entrance to the Abbey there is still the Roman bridge over which the road crossed the Amaseno. Cereatae was a village of Arpino and it is probable that the town centre was built during the reign of Augustus. The adjective Marianae was added to the name of the town in honour of Gaius Marius, the most famous of its citizens, from whom the modern name of Casamari originated.