The National Museum of Archaeology of Aquileia, inaugurated in 1882, boasts of having one of the most important and well supplied museums in the world featuring the cultural heritage of ancient Rome. It resides in the Villa Cassis Faraone and develops along twelve exhibition halls on three storeys.
Important collections, statues, objects used in the daily life and ornamental accessories – particularly precious are the collections of gems, amber jewels and coins – find here their perfect location. A remarkable lapidarium is also set up and displays a considerable quantity of valuable mosaic floors.
The first nucleus of the museum consisted of a private collection gathered during the 18th century, by the canon Gian Domenico Bertoli and was located in the house – still existing nowadays – in Via Poppone.
In 1807 a section located in the Baptistery, in front of the Cathedral of Aquileia, was made available to the public. Later on, in 1887 a large quantity of sculptures, gravestones and commemorative slabs, formerly enclosed in the walls of the Moschettini stately house, were recovered and then moved to the present seat of the museum.
At the end of 1800s  a covered walk was erected in the gardens of Villa Cassis, with the purpose to set down there the lapidarium. The porticoes were enlarged from 1940 to1950 by adding an elongation to the four sides of the garden. Between end of 1954 and beginning of 1955 the museum was completely refurbished and a new order was given, selecting and sorting out the most valuable pieces with the aim to capture the interest and the appreciation of the visitors.