Museo civico “Beata Diana Giuntini” e Area archeologica “La Rocca”

About the museum

The rooms of the Museo civico “Beata Diana Giuntini” stand beside the Area archeologica “La Rocca”, at the highest point of the village of Santa Maria a Monte. The museum is dedicated to the patron saint of the town, Blessed Diana Giuntini, and was inaugurated in 2014 with two local history routes, one on the coat of arms and one on the figure of the Blessed. In 2017 the archaeological route was re-laid out, with finds from the excavation at Sant’Ippolito in Anniano.

After the acquisition of the adjoining building, the spaces were enlarged in 2024: the coat of arms and the Blessed are now brought together in a single room, one wing of the ground floor is dedicated to Vincenzo Galilei, born in Santa Maria a Monte in 1520, and the archaeological section houses new finds from the Rocca and from the excavation of the washhouse at Valle Fontana. A multimedia room shows 3D videos on the history of the territory.

Excavations at the Rocca, begun in the 1980s, have revealed a succession of phases from the pre-Roman settlement to the 8th-century Lombard oratory, then a pieve with baptismal fonts, a canonical house and a crypt, and a production of bells between the 10th and 12th centuries, attested by eight casting furnaces.

Highlights

• Archaeological section with finds from the Rocca
• Interactive exhibition on Vincenzo Galilei
• Room of Blessed Diana Giuntini and the coat of arms
• Multimedia room with 3D videos
• Remains of the Lombard oratory, baptismal fonts and bell-casting furnaces

Permanent exhibitions

• Sezione archeologica – Finds from the castle and territory of Santa Maria a Monte, including material from the Rocca and from the Valle Fontana excavation.
• Esposizione su Vincenzo Galilei – Interactive route on the life and work of the artist born in Santa Maria a Monte in 1520.
• Beata Diana Giuntini e sala dello stemma – History of the town's patron saint and the origin of the coat of arms of Santa Maria a Monte.

Founded

2013

Operated by

Comune di Santa Maria a Monte

Visitors per year

approx. 1,510

Admission & discounts

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Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

The museum is in Via Cimitero, next to the archaeological area of the Rocca, in the historic centre of Santa Maria a Monte.

Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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