It is situated in what was once the Gonzaga court theatre. At the end of the nineteenth century it was a market selling cocoons: silkworms were then commonly bred in the Mantuan countryside.

It is currently being turned into the home of the future Museo Archeologico Nazionale, of wich a part regarding the archaeology of the Mantuan zone can already be visited. Items found in town and province are keptdistinct and include: prehistoric stone, pottery and metal finds, Venetian, Etruscan and Celtic items (bronze ware, a fine branched candlestick from Castiglione delle Stiviere, weapons, jewellery, jogs and bowls), evidence of the presence of Byzantines, Goths and Longobards.

The array of exhibits includes the so-called ‘Amanti di Valdaro’, a pair of skeletons buried in an embrace 6,000 years ago.