The ground floor of the fortress called Gospina Batarija, or Our Lady’s Battery, houses an exhibit of hydro-archaeological materials, such as different types of amphorae found in the underwater zones offshore from Vis. They testify to the importance of Issa as a trade destination as well as the importance of its port. Among them, a rare Greek amphora made in Corinth and dated to the 5th/4th century stands out. Also on display are a large dolium with a surface that had been subsequently perforated, the stocks of ancient anchors and the cargo of a sunken ship consisting of Lamboglia 2 type amphorae from the end of the 2nd and the mid-1st century BC.
The Prehistoric and Hellenistic Collection is on the fort’s upper floor, consisting of objects discovered on the island of Vis that date from the Neolithic to the late Hellenistic periods. In the first section, prehistoric materials from the earlier phase of the Neolithic (New Stone Age) are exhibited, followed by Bronze and Iron Age artefacts: potsherds, fibulae and spiral-spectacle decorations.
These are followed by a Corinthian aryballos, small perfume containers, a buccero-type Etruscan kantharos and a statuette that probably represents the goddess of the afterlife (Kore, Persephone), and then exhibits of Southern Italian Red-figure vases: a hydria, kernos, lebes gamikos (wedding bowl), lekanis, etc. These objects have been dated to the latter half of the 4th century BC.
Gnathian ware is represented by numerous examples made in the vicinity of Taras (Taranto) and Canosa (Kanusion), and in southern Italy in general. The second group of Gnathian ware is represented by vessels made in local Issaean workshops. Gnathian ware is characterized by the grooved surfaces of vessels (not always) and decorations in white, yellow and red on a black base. Issaean Gnathian ware retains the same features, but it is also distinctive in that it is decorated in the so-called West Slope style. The objects date from the final third of the 4th to the 2nd century BC.
The discovery of a bronze head of the goddess Artemis, of which a replica is displayed in the Collection, was particularly significant. The head was part of a 150 cm statue, made in the Praxitelean tradition. It is a product from the end of the 4th century BC and is one of the most notable bronze Greek artefacts in Croatia.
Other vessels on display include Black-gloss ware and Upper Adriatic (Alto Adriatico) ware from the end of the 4th to the 3rd century BC.
The open areas of the permanent display feature gravestones and public inscriptions, such as stelae of various shapes, but mostly trapezoidal with a triangular pediment. The inscription of Ionios is particularly important, as it clearly indicates that Issa was called the island of Ionios. An inscription that mentions the strategos is also notable.
The Collection’s final section includes women’s gold and bronze jewellery and toiletries, as well as a very beautiful bronze oenochoe used for ritual purposes. The handle ends in a winged mermaid holding a shell in her right hand. At the bottom of the handle is one of the Horae, the personification of spring.
Small stone altars were frequently found in Issaean houses. Many lacked inscriptions, while some of them have a preserved dedicatory inscription. One of them reads: “To [the goddess] Syria Ctesias vows.” All altars are generally unadorned, and those that are have only sparsely rendered, linear decorations.
The Collection closes with terracotta figurines, of which small Tanagra-type female statuettes predominate, although there are also other forms, such as a bird on a pomegranate, a small model ship, a small theatre mask, etc.
The Collection has the highest number Hellenistic objects in Croatia, all of which were discovered in the area of ancient Issa and its necropolises.