The Francesco Ribezzo Archaeological Museum occupies the handsome Palazzo Granafei-Nervegna on the harbour, and its collections cover the full sweep of human occupation in the Brindisi area from the Bronze Age through to the late Roman period. The Messapian section is the highlight — terracotta figurines, painted pottery with geometric patterns, and those characteristic bronze votive statuettes that filled the sanctuaries of pre-Roman Puglia.
The Roman rooms are also strong, with mosaics, portrait busts, and a collection of anchors and bronze fittings recovered from the harbour floor — reminders that the port has been sending ships east for millennia. Some of the exhibit labels are only in Italian, but the pieces speak for themselves. The building itself is a pleasure: a late Renaissance palazzo with a courtyard and loggia that the museum has preserved rather than plastered over.