Museo Aidone & Morgantina: Goddess, Silver Treasure & Combo Ticket

In short: The Museo Archeologico di Aidone displays three collections that were all once illegally taken out of the country and have since been returned — the Dea di Morgantina (returned by the Getty in 2011), the silver treasure (returned by the Metropolitan in 2010) and the acroliths (2009). Two things you need to know: the museum and the excavation are two separate sites with their own tickets and very different hours — the excavation closes much earlier. And for both together there is a combo ticket for 13 euros.

Quick Facts

• Type: regional archaeological museum + associated excavation site
• Museum address: Largo Torres Truppia 1, Aidone (Province of Enna)
• Excavation address: Contrada Morgantina (Serra Orlando) — a few kilometres outside Aidone
• Operator: Parco archeologico di Morgantina e della Villa Romana del Casale (Regione Siciliana)
• Admission: 8 euros each / reduced 4 euros — combo ticket Morgantina + Aidone 13 / 6.50 euros
• Big combo: 5 sites including Villa Romana del Casale and Enna for 34 euros (instead of 42)
• Opening: no closing day — but the excavation closes noticeably earlier than the museum
• Highlights: Dea di Morgantina, silver treasure of Eupolemos, acroliths, head of Hades
• Without a car: unrealistic — two sites, the excavation has no public transport connection
• Information: Museum +39 0935 87307 · Excavation +39 0935 87955

Why the visit is worth it

There are museums with more beautiful statues. There is hardly one whose collection tells you so much about the art trade.

The operator itself puts it unusually openly: the three main pieces were excavated illegally by looters in the late 1970s and early 1980s and sold abroad illegally. All three are back — and each time it was its own, years-long case:

• The Dea di Morgantina was purchased by the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1988 for 18 million dollars. A 2007 agreement determined its return; on 17 March 2011 she came to Aidone, and on 17 May her hall opened.
• The Metropolitan Museum acquired the silver treasure between 1981 and 1984. Returned in 2010.
• The acroliths came back on 13 December 2009 — via the Maurice Tempelsman collection to the University of Virginia, which arranged the return in 2008.

Anyone standing in Aidone in front of these display cases isn’t just seeing antiquity. They’re seeing the end of a very long dispute — and a small town in Sicily’s interior that won it.

Who the visit suits

Criterion	Well suited	Limitations
Antiquity enthusiasts	three internationally significant repatriations in one place	the excavation is a second, separate site
Those who know the restitution history	the Getty, the Metropolitan, the University of Virginia — all here	—
Combining with the Villa Romana del Casale	combo ticket from 24 euros, about 8 km to Piazza Armerina	—
Without a rental car	—	the excavation has no reliable connection; two opening windows
In summer heat	the museum is indoors	the excavation is largely shadeless hill terrain
Families	statues with a crime story work for teenagers too	long drive into the interior
Afternoon visitors	the museum stays open longer	the excavation may already be closed by then

Tickets — including the number that’s missing everywhere

The individual prices have applied since 1 January 2025 (before that: 7 / 3.50 euros):

Ticket	Full	Reduced
Museo Archeologico di Aidone	8 euros	4 euros
Area Archeologica di Morgantina	8 euros	4 euros
Combo: Morgantina + Aidone	13 euros	6.50 euros
Combo: + Villa Romana del Casale	24 euros	12 euros
Combo: + Palazzo Trigona	30 euros	15 euros
Combo: all 5 incl. Museo Enna	34 euros	17 euros
Villa Romana del Casale (alone)	14 euros	7 euros
Museo Interdisciplinare di Enna	4 euros	2 euros
Area Archeologica di Sofiana	free	— (currently closed)

The combo ticket for Morgantina + Aidone at 13 euros is the single most important number on this page — and of all places it does not appear on the park’s ticket page, only in a PDF price table. It saves 3 euros compared with two individual tickets; the five-site ticket saves 8 euros.

Watch out for outdated figures: the prices of 13 and 16 euros with three days’ validity that still circulate online come from the introductory press release of 1 March 2022. The current table states no validity period — so we don’t claim one either.

As a site run by the Assessorato, the Sicilian regional tariff rules apply: free under 18, EU citizens between 18 and 25 pay 50 percent, teachers, journalists and ICOM members go free, people with disabilities plus one companion go free. Over-65s pay full price. The free first Sunday applies regionally to Assessorato sites — though it isn’t specifically listed on this park’s own ticket page.

Tickets are only available at the ticket desk, cash or card (no American Express), with no advance booking. Combo tickets are available at each site. Groups can pay in advance by bank transfer.

Opening hours — where it gets confusing

We need to be honest here: two official sources from the same park state different hours, and the more recent one explicitly dates its time window to April–June 2026 — which has expired.

Source	Aidone Museum	Morgantina Excavation
Operator’s portal	daily 9:00am–6:00pm, ticket office until 5:00pm	daily 9:00am–2:00pm
Park’s operations page (window 04–06/2026)	9:00am–7:30pm, last entry 6:30pm	9:00am–4:30pm, last entry 3:30pm

What both agree on — and this is the decisive point: there is no closing day, and the excavation closes noticeably earlier than the museum. According to the portal version, sometimes as early as midday.

That gives a clear order: Morgantina first, then Aidone. Anyone arriving in the afternoon may find only the museum still open. And since the hours can’t be reconciled, the rule is: call ahead, 0935 87955 for the excavation, 0935 87307 for the museum.

A side note on the source situation: elsewhere on its portal, the operator lists dates like Sunday, 5 October with no year given — leftovers from 2025. The operations page is noticeably better maintained. When in doubt, it’s the more reliable one.

What you’ll see — Aidone Museum

The Dea di Morgantina

The statue of a goddess, around 420 BC, about 2.24 metres tall, in pseudo-acrolithic technique: the bare parts in marble, the drapery in limestone. Two different stones, one body.

On the name, because it’s wrong almost everywhere: popularly she’s called Venere, Venus. The operator, however, lists her as Demeter or Kore. The identification is unresolved — so we don’t adopt the nickname the museum itself doesn’t use.

The silver treasure

The Tesoro di Eupolemos, 3rd century BC: the city’s table silver for official banquets in the Prytaneion. According to the operator, the citizen Eupolemos hid it in 211 BC during the Roman attack. He never came back for it.

Important for planning: older travel information warns that the treasure might currently be in New York. That’s outdated — a 2022 agreement ended the rotation with the Metropolitan; the silver now stays permanently in Sicily, and other works rotate instead. The operator doesn’t give a piece count; circulating figures vary.

The acroliths and the head of Hades

• Acroliths of Demeter and Kore — heads, hands and feet in marble, the body in another material; end of the 6th century BC. Cult statues from the archaic sanctuary of San Francesco Bisconti.
• Head of Hades — painted terracotta, end of the 4th century BC, probably part of a group with Kore.
• Also the prehistoric settlement, the Sicel-Hellenised settlement of Cittadella, necropolises with grave goods, and Hellenistic finds.

What you’ll see — Morgantina

Morgantina is the rare case of an abandoned city: life there ended in the 1st century AD, and it was never built over again afterwards. That’s why a Greek city lies exposed here as you rarely see elsewhere. Excavation continues to this day; the American mission began in the mid-1950s.

• The Ekklesiasterion — the monumental staircase structure on the trapezoidal agora. It was the citizens’ assembly place and also the link between the two agora levels: architecture that solves politics and circulation at once. The centrepiece of an ambitious urban-planning project from before the mid-3rd century BC, probably under Hieron II of Syracuse.
• Two bath complexes — among the oldest and best preserved in the western Greek world. Archimedes has even been suggested in connection with the dome construction of the North Baths.
• The theatre, now used again for performances.
• Casa del Ganimede — with one of the oldest figurative mosaics in Sicily, 3rd century BC.

The park points to signposted circular trails of varying difficulty — so the terrain isn’t uniformly easy going.

Getting there

Aidone lies in Sicily’s interior, Province of Enna. From Aidone to Piazza Armerina it’s about 8 kilometres by road; on weekdays buses run about four times a day, journey time around 15 minutes. The Morgantina excavation lies a few kilometres outside the town.

Without a car this isn’t realistic. Aidone itself is reachable by bus, the excavation isn’t reliably. Two sites with two different opening windows are hardly combinable that way. On parking, accessibility, photography rules and a recommended visit duration the park gives no information — so we don’t state any. The distance figures aren’t from the operator either. In general: bus & train in Sicily and rental car in Sicily.

Best time and common mistakes

The museum works year-round; the excavation is a spring and autumn destination. The most common mistakes:

• Confusing the museum and the excavation. Two sites, two tickets, two schedules. The statues are in the museum.
• Driving to the excavation in the afternoon. According to the portal version it closes at 2pm.
• Planning without a car. Practically impossible.
• Using the old combo prices. 13 and 16 euros with three days’ validity are from 2022.
• Assuming the silver is in New York. Since 2022 it stays here.
• Visiting the site at midday in high summer. Extensive, hilly, largely shadeless — and usually closed by then anyway.

You’ll find a seasonal overview under Best Time to Visit Sicily.

Nearby

• Villa Romana del Casale near Piazza Armerina — UNESCO World Heritage site, about 8 kilometres away; included in the combo ticket from 24 euros.
• Museo della Città e del Territorio in the Palazzo Trigona, Piazza Armerina — seat of the park administration.
• Museo Interdisciplinare di Enna — 4 euros, included in the large combo ticket.
• Area archeologica di Sofiana — part of the park and free, but currently closed.
• Caltagirone — the ceramics town, within reach to the southeast.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources & update

Prices and combo tickets based on the official price table of the Parco archeologico di Morgantina e della Villa Romana del Casale (Assessorato dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana, Regione Siciliana) and the park’s ticket pages; opening hours based on the park’s portal and operations page — the two contradict each other, see above; details on the Dea di Morgantina, the silver treasure, the acroliths and the excavation based on the park’s site pages; the 2022 agreement on the silver remaining in Sicily based on a park announcement. As of 17 July 2026. Explicitly left open because contradictory or unverified: the opening hours stated as valid for July 2026, the validity period of the combo tickets, the piece count of the silver treasure, parking, accessibility, photography rules, a recommended visit duration, and the distance figures (which aren’t from the operator). The identification of the goddess is unresolved; the operator states Demeter or Kore, not Venus. 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