The San Pasquale site bears witness to the fact that this area has been inhabited since the Neolithic era.

Traces of Neolithic people have come to light in the Canturratta locality, in the upper valley of the San Pasquale River, in the terraced fields of Penitenzieria and at Umbro.

A visit to the Archeoderi Archaeological Park of the San Pasquale Valley (Bova Marina RC), consists in two fundamental steps: the archaeological sites and the Antiquarium.

The archaeological sites

Stage one: the pre-synagogue building: these walls are at a slant compared to the Synagogue, and this fact has led many scholars to hypothesise that they were built a considerable time prior to Synagogue itself.

The site is still under study so that it is not yet possible to provide a valid interpretation of the use to which the original building was put.

Stage two: the area of the Synagogue: the Synagogue went through two phases between the fourth and sixth centuries AD. During this time the floor plan of the whole area underwent changes involving the reduction of some rooms and the creation of others.

In 1983, the beautiful mosaic floor of the Prayer Hall, depicting a Menorah, and others finds kept in the Antiquarium came to light.

Stage three: the area of the necropolis: this area too seems to have gone through the same two phases as the Synagogue (fourth-sixth centuries AD). This burial place contains poor tombs devoid of funerary accessories.

Antiquarium

The first showcase contains artifacts from the prehistoric site of Penitenzieria and Umbro, of which the most significant are fragments of Stentinello-type (Neolithic Age) Pottery, a small female idol (Neolithic Age), some obsidian fragments (Neolithic Age), plaster from a hut (Neolithic Age), a small and a large grindstone (ancient-middle Bronze Age).

The second showcase contains finds from the San Salvatore site, of which those most worthy of mention are a balm ampule bearing a female figure (fourth century BC), a skyfoide goblet with the inscription ∑IMON (late-archaic age) and bronze arrow heads (sixty-fifth century BC.).

The third showcase contains finds from the area north of the Synagogue: of which those most worthy of mention are a firmalampen ARONVI lamp, a central-Italic production (second century AD), a large flat African red platter, K LII-type jars and a small portable stove (first century AD).

The fourth showcase contains finds from the Synagogue itself: of which those most worthy of mention are needles in bronze (fourth-sixth century AD), bronze buttons (fourth-sixth century AD),a glass beaker or lantern and a fragment of a sundial (later-Imperial age).

The fifth showcase contains finds from the Prayer Hall: of which the most worthy of mention is a small sixth-century AD treasure trove containing menorah wick-holders and handles engraved with a menorah.

The Prayer Hall’s mosaic floor: the entire floor followed a geometric pattern and comprised 16 panels.

Each panel was decorated with a laurel wreath and contained alternating rosettes and crosses inscribed in a double concentric circle and a Solomon knot. At the centre there was a Menorah, (seven-branched candelabra) on a triple base adorned with a lulav (festive palm branch) and an ethrog (a citron) on its right, a shofar (ram’s horn) on its left.