Museo Archeologico

Southern Tuscany


Housed in the 13th-century Palazzo del Podestà, the historic residence of the town's chief magistrate, this archaeological museum has a small collection of artefacts dating from the Palaeolithic to Etruscan eras. The most noteworthy exhibit is La stele di vado all'arancio, a simple but compelling stone stela (funeral or commemorative marker) dating from the 3rd millennium BC.

Visitors who are visually impaired will appreciate the fact that reproductions of two of the museum's most significant artefacts, the Stele di Vado all'Arancio and an Etruscan sculpture known as the Eracle Callinico, are covered with Braille codes that supply a recorded commentary on touch.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Southern Tuscany attractions

1. Cattedrale di San Cerbone

0.04 MILES

Presiding over photogenic Piazza Garibaldi (aka Piazza Duomo), Massa Marittima's asymmetrically positioned 13th-century duomo (cathedral) is dedicated to…

2. Fonte dell'Abbondanza

0.07 MILES

A rather risqué surprise lurks in the street-level loggia (balcony) of a 13th-century former wheat store close to Piazza Garibaldi. The loggia shelters…

3. Torre del Candeliere

0.17 MILES

Climb to the top of this 13th-century, 30m-high tower on the border between the Città Vecchia and Città Nuova for views over the old town. It's the only…

4. Arco Senese

0.17 MILES

Massa Marittima's immense, medieval Arco Senese soars overhead as you pass between the Città Vecchia and Città Nuova.

5. Museo di Arte Sacra

0.28 MILES

A splendid Maestà (c 1335–37) by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as well as sculptures by Giovanni Pisano that originally adorned the facade of the duomo, are the…

6. Parco delle Biancane

7.31 MILES

At this geothermal park 21km north of Massa Marittima, steam has been transformed into power by vapour turbines since 1916, supplying power to one million…

7. Rocca Aldobrandesca

10.7 MILES

Suvereto's crowning glory is this part-15th-century rocca (castle), abandoned in the 1600s and slowly being restored. The climb to it up winding village…

8. Il Chiostro di San Francesco

10.81 MILES

A stroll from the main street, Via Giacomo Matteotti, uphill along Via del Crocifisso, brings you to these cloisters, all that remains of the 13th-century…