This splendid archaeological museum offers insight into Gela's great artistic past. It contains artefacts from the city's ancient acropolis and is famed for its fine collection of red-and-black kraters: these terracotta vases, used to mix wine and water, were a local specialty between the 7th and 4th centuries BC, admired throughout the Greek world for their delicate designs and superb figurative work. Other treasures include a remarkable collection of 530 silver coins minted in Agrigento, Gela, Syracuse, Messina and Athens.
At one time the coin collection numbered over 1000 pieces, but it was stolen in 1976 and only about half of it was ever recovered. More recently, the museum has acquired a Greek ship dating to the 6th century BC (discovered in 1988 on the sandy sea bottom off Gela) and three unusual terracotta altars (discovered in 2003 in a 5th-century-BC warehouse that had been buried under 6m of sand).
