The State Museum of Mileto , was born following a 1991 agreement between the then Ministry for Cultural and Environmental Heritage, the Diocese of Mileto-Nicotera-Tropea (owner body of most of the works on display), the provincial administration of Vibo Valentia and the Municipality of Mileto. Located in the city center, next to the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, the Museum is housed in a wing of the austere Bishop's Palace owned by the Curia, whose construction, begun under Bishop Capece Minutolo (1792-1824), was brought to end around 1860 under the regency of Bishop Filippo Mincione. There is exhibited a rich collection with a strong historical-artistic connotation, characterized by a great chronological and typological variety of the pieces.

The collection, which covers a time span between the late imperial age and the nineteenth century, is divided into six rooms on two floors: In the two rooms on the ground floor you can admire the finds from the Roman period, probably coming from the site of the ancient Hipponium ,   and medieval artefacts from the former Benedictine abbey of SS. Trinity and the old Cathedral. The fragments of polychrome windows and the rich corpus of capitals of Norman art (11th-12th century) are of considerable interest. The first room on the second floor houses the fourteenth-century documentation, consisting of the remains of the monumental sarcophagi of Ruggero Sanseverino and Giovanna d'Aquino and other works attributed to a single artistic personality known as the "Master of Miletus". In the following four rooms the exhibition is dedicated to a valuable collection of sacred art. You can admire sacred vestments and refined silverware, including a 15th century thurible and a 16th century incense vessel and the two busts of San Nicola di Bari (18th century) and San Fortunato martire (19th century). Also of great interest is the ivory crucifix attributed to Alessandro Algardi (17th century) and some paintings of a devotional nature, such as the icon on slate of San Nicola di Bari (17th century) and the painting of the Madonna della Pace by Giuseppe Naso ( Nineteenth century).