Baglio Anselmi Regional Archaeological Museum

Marsala boasts museum institutions of considerable importance and archaeology and painting workshops. The “Baglio Anselmi” Regional Archaeological Museum holds finds from ancient Lilybaeum, including a beautiful statue of Venus Callipyge and the interesting wreck of a Punic ship found in 971 near Punta Scario, whose sinking can be dated to the mid-third century BC, coinciding with the Battle of the Egadi Islands (241 BC).

The slender lines and the bottom of the hull identify it as a rowed warship, with about 68 rowers. The stern and the side survive. The guide lines and signs of the Phoenician-Punic alphabet, incised and painted on the planking, have made it possible to learn the ship-building technique of the Punic craftsmen.