Located in the former Santa Lucia convent which was home to nuns of the Order of St. Claire from the late Middle Ages to the 19th century.
It was purchased by the Municipality of Ostra Vetere in 1999 and was restructured as part of a project for its functional reuse and partial allocation as a cultural container.
The complex’s monumental area is located in Piazza Satellico and gravitates around an exquisite internal courtyard. The Parish Civic Museum is located on the first floor and contains works owned by the municipality and the parish.
Works particularly worthy of mention include: an oil on canvas depicting Christ and St. Peter on Lake Tiberias, attributed to Cristoforo Roncalli, two coloured terracotta tiles depicting a Nativity and a Deposition dating back to the 15th century, three 15th century frescoes of the Marche School from the church of S. Francesco al Mercatale, two frescoes from the Church of the Santissimo Crocifisso, attributed to the local painter Giovan Battista Lombardello, active in the Marche, Umbria and Rome during the mid 16th century, and a bronze statuette/ reliquary of Saint Aurelius dating back to the late 17th century, attributed to Lazzaro Morelli.
The first floor also houses the Antique Book Collection of the Montenovo Convent Community, containing approximately 3500 volumes including incunabula, 16th and 17th century editions. On the ground floor you can admire the Antiquarium of the ancient Roman City of Ostra, with artefacts from sites of the Muracce Archaeological Area.
Tra le opere maggiormente degne di nota segnaliamo: un olio su tela rappresentante Cristo e San Pietro sul lago di Tiberiade, attribuito a Cristoforo Roncalli; due formelle in terracotta policroma raffiguranti una Natività ed una Deposizione del XV secolo; tre affreschi quattrocenteschi di scuola marchigiana provenienti dalla chiesa di S. Francesco al Mercatale; due affreschi staccati dalla Chiesa del Santissimo Crocifisso attribuiti al pittore locale Giovan Battista Lombardello, attivo a metà 1500 nelle Marche, in Umbria e a Roma, ed una statuetta/reliquario bronzea rappresentante S. Aurelio della fine del 1600 secolo attribuita a Lazzaro Morelli.
Sempre al primo piano troviamo l’Antico Fondo Librario delle Comunità Conventuali di Montenovo con circa 3500 volumi tra incunaboli, cinquecentine e seicentine.
Al piano terra si può ammirare l’Antiquarium dell’Antica Città Romana di Ostra con reperti provenienti dagli scavi presso l’Area Archeologica delle Muracce.