EXARC Members Archaeological (Open-Air) Museums

Bostel di Rotzo & Museo Archeologico Sette Comuni (MASC) (IT)

Member of EXARC since

The Bostel di Rotzo is located in the Altopiano dei Sette Comuni on a well-defended plateau where the Assa and the Astico valleys meet, north of Vicenza and only a few kilometers from Asiago. Bostel di Rotzo is the first permanent village in the 'Sette Comuni Altopiano' to have been steadily settled by ancient people throughout the second half of the Iron Age (5th – 1st century BC).

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The community inhabiting the Bostel village witnessed a mixture of influences from the surrounding areas, most clearly from the Veneto plain and the Trentino/Tyrol alpine area, which were respectively inhabited by Venetic and Rhaetic communities. The Bostel village was located at a frontier zone in-between these two different regions in a very strategic position for controlling the surrounding territory and the routes towards the mining districts of Trentino-Alto Adige and Tyrol. This village played a key role for the exchange of pastoral and mining resources between the Po plain and the Alps.

Since 2017 the Bostel di Rotzo site and the MASC (Museo Archeologico Sette Comuni) are led by NEA Archeologia, an archaeological company with extensive knowledge in archaeological outreach and strategic planning for public archaeological engagement. NEA offers several services to the public, such as guiding tours, naturalistic excursions, experimental archaeological activities for kids and adults and living-history demonstrations in collaboration with the historical reenactment association Suliis as Torc. Thanks to the ‘Re-Building The Past’ project funded by POR – Obiettivo “Investimenti a favore della crescita e dell’occupazione” Parte FESR fondo europeo di sviluppo regionale 2014-2020, since 2019 NEA provides visitors also with interactive experience of the past daily-life activities carried out at the Iron Age-village of Bostel di Rotzo through the innovative digital technologies of Virtual/Augmented Reality and Immersive 3D Cinema.

Annual Number of Visitors
Era(s)

45.8622, 11.3967