Story of the museum
Middle Ages and Renaissance in a single kiln.
The story of our museum begins with that of our house in Via della Cava 6 and an unbelievable discovery in the underground levels of this tenth- century building in the medieval quarter.
The private Marco Marino Collection
Unsuspected autochthonous productions
The collection consists mainly of rejects from the two kilns that were operating in Via della Cava up into the middle of the sixteenth century, with the addition of majolica wares connected with these two kilns.
The Kiln
Medieval archaeology meets industrial archeology
The finds on exhibit in this museum bear tangible witness to the productive continuity of this old kiln, a real factory that produced not only one of a kind pieces but also repetitive pieces in series. This site can therefore be thought of as the encounter between classic medieval and industrial archaeology, a hypothesis confirmed by the organization of work.
The Museum
A witness to life rather than a museum
The premises of the museum are particularly intriguing and are in themselves of particular interest. Almost entirely dug out of the tufa rock, they contain medieval and Renaissance archaeological structures including the only fifteenth-century majolica kiln still extant in Italy and perhaps in the world (limited though to the firing chamber) and the cistern for the water supply with traces of the distribution system. Butti (dump shafts) and the structures of a typical wine cellar are also visible.
Activities
A kiln of initiatives
The museum is open exclusively by reservation for groups of visitors organized by agencies specialized in visits to historical dwellings or collections of art, or for autonomously and privately organized groups. Visitors will be accompanied only by the owners, who will illustrate the collection with the help, when necessary and if requested previously, of interpreters for various languages.
What to expect
Visits to the museum are provided only for groups with a minimum of 8 to a maximum of 30 participants and will be organized as follows:
Guests will be received in the first room for an introductory lecture with images on a large screen. The lecture will provide a brief history of Orvieto ceramics, with reference to Italian ceramics and an illustration of the characteristics of the museum premises, once the site of a medieval kiln that produced majolica wares from the middle of the fourteenth to the end of the sixteenth century.
Supplemental program to the museum visit
Supplemental program to the museum visit
Theoretical and practical training courses can be requested by those interested in learning more about ceramics and above all the techniques of restoration of ceramic finds.
