The Archaeological Museum is located in the south-western wing of the Palazzo della Pilotta and is one of the oldest in Italy.

We owe its construction to the will of the Duke of Parma, Filippo di Borbone, who in 1760 undertook a series of archaeological excavations and kept them in some rooms of the Palazzo della Pilotta, which would later be used as a museum.

In the following decades, during the reign of Duchess Marie Louise, the rooms were further enriched with new materials. Today, the museum is divided into a series of exhibition sections, the most famous of which are Ancient Egypt, with the Sarcophagus of Shepsesptah and the funerary hieroglyphic papyrus of Amenothes; the Ceramics Section; the Medal Collection, which has about 23,500 pieces from the Greek to the contemporary era, making it one of the most important collections in Italy, and the very important section dedicated to Velleia, which collects numerous finds from the Roman city.