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On the occasion of the European Heritage Days 2026, the largest and most participatory cultural event in Europe promoted by the European Commission and the Council of Europe, and coordinated for Italy by the Ministry of Culture, the Archaeological Parks of Crotone and Sibari present a complex program of initiatives designed to tell the story of daily life and the future of Calabrian archaeology. Fully welcoming the solicitations of the guiding theme chosen for this edition, “Protect heritage. Renew, resist, reinvent”the two-day event on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September will transform museums and parks into places of constant confrontation between research and citizenship, demonstrating that the protection of cultural heritage does not correspond to a mere conservation of the past, but takes the form of a continuous process of maintenance, innovation, scientific study and public restitution.
“The attention that the Ministry of Culture, under the impetus of the Minister, the Hon. Alessandro Giuli, is dedicating to the centrality of places of culture as living garrisons of citizenship finds an immediate and concrete response in our Parks – declares the Director of the Archaeological Parks of Crotone and Sibari, Filippo Demma. – Protecting the archaeological heritage does not mean isolating it in a display case, but inserting it into a living dynamic of research, maintenance and public restitution. From the stratigraphic investigations at Capo Colonna to the complex conservation activities in the Sibari Park, the European Heritage Days represent the opportunity to show how daily protection is transformed into a shared experience and a fundamental growth factor for the territory”.
The opening of the event, Saturday 26 September, will be characterized by evocative extraordinary evening openings. At the National Archaeological Museum of Sibaritide, accessible from 7 pm, at the symbolic cost of one euro, the event will come to life “Night of Light and Mystery. Shadows and rites from Antiquity”. The appointment will see the development, in two shifts of visits at 7pm and 9pm, of a journey dedicated to the discovery of the exhibition “Orghia. Myths, rites and mysteries” – extended until 18 October and focused on the link between ancient myth, the divinities of the earth such as Demeter and Kore and southern rural culture – accompanied by the exhibition of pre-Roman oil lamps and testimonies linked to ancient rituals. The initiative will be enriched by the practical laboratory “Shaping the Light”during which participants will be able to try their hand at making a clay lamp. At the same time, the Archaeological Museum of Capo Colonna will propose an extraordinary evening opening with free entry from 8pm to 11pm (with last entry at 10.30pm), offering the public the opportunity for a fascinating night-time visit to the collections and archaeological spaces.
Sunday 27 September will enter the heart of protection and scientific research, finding its culminating moment in the great Open Day of Capo Colonna, an extraordinary and rare opportunity to discover the behind the scenes of archaeological work in the field and in conservation places.
Now in its third consecutive year, the investigations conducted in collaboration with the Southern High School of Naples, directed by prof. Carlo Rescigno and supervised by prof. Michele Silani, are revealing the secrets of the southern sector of Lacinion, bringing to light new structures and precious archaeological materials.
As part of the initiative “Beyond the showcase. From the construction site to the museum”starting from 4 pm, the public who will stop at Capo Colonna will be able to cross the threshold of the investigation area and enter directly into the excavation site. The experience will continue from 5.30 pm with an extraordinary opening of the deposits of the National Archaeological Museum of Capo Colonna: through guided tours in shifts, visitors will be accompanied to places usually closed to the public to closely observe and preview a selection of unpublished finds emerging from the most recent research campaigns.
Finally, even in Crotone it will be possible to fully grasp the depth and complexity of the issues posed by archaeological research, the protection and conservation of materials, casting a curious look into areas not normally open to the public.
In the same hours, the Archaeological Park of Sibari will propose the appointment “SibariResiste. Protect the archaeological heritage”: at 6 pm a guided tour of the Parco del Cavallo area entirely dedicated to the complex conservation and prevention interventions currently active on the site will start, followed at 7 pm by a musical aperitif, curated in collaboration with Catasta and Peperoncino Jazz Festival, which will see the performance of Royale, together with Alessandra Chiarello and Roy Panebianco.
Participation in the “Night of Light and Mystery” at the Sibaritide Museum and in the visits to the Capo Colonna warehouses requires mandatory booking.