The National Museum of Egnazia, which is an integral part of the Archaeological Park, is situated outside the 4th-century B.C. defensive walls surrounding the area of the ancient town. The museum was planned and built in the 1970s with the aim of gathering and showing to the public the copious archaeological remains brought to light during the excavations carried out in Egnazia from 1912 on. These had unearthed Messapian tombs, substantial remains of the Roman and late antique town and, on the acropolis, a mediaeval fortification, the foundations of a 3rd century B.C. temple, and Bronze Age houses.
The museum itinerary follows a chronological and territorial logic, documenting the history of Egnazia, its transformations and its relations with the other settlements present in the south-eastern region. The itinerary starts from the first forms of population in the 16th century B.C., then explores the urban structure development of the site and its progressive monumentalisation in the Messapian, Roman and Late Antique ages. Finally, it documents its transfer onto the acropolis, around the 8th century A.D., with a fortified settlement still existing in the 11th–12th centuries.
The Museum, as well as the Park, is managed by the State and is included in the Apulian Museum Centre, a decentralised office of the Ministry of Heritage, Cultural Activities and Tourism.