Museo civico demoantropologico “Mauro Zelli”

Civic museum of Leonessa in the former convent of San Francesco, with ethnographic and archaeological sections on the rural culture of the Leonessa plateau.

Opening hoursFree admission

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About the museum

The civic museum of Leonessa has been housed since 2002 in the former convent of San Francesco in the historic centre, and is dedicated to the rural culture of the Leonessa plateau. The Conventual Franciscans occupied the convent from 1280 to 1809, when they were expelled under Napoleonic legislation. In 1550 Margherita d’Austria, daughter of Carlo V, obtained a papal dispensation to establish her residence there during her stays in Leonessa.

The ethnographic section occupies the former cells of the friars. The first room presents tools for producing food, such as presses, millstones and wooden basins, largely donated by local residents; the second, in the rooms that were once Margherita d’Austria’s apartment, displays looms, spindles and embroidery. A virtual section with oral testimonies, photographs and documentaries is also available.

The archaeological section, on the basement level, holds finds from excavations on the plateau, a borderland between the Sabines and the Umbrians, including material from the Sabine chamber tombs of Valle Fana.

Highlights

Tools for food production: presses, millstones and basins
Looms, spindles and embroidery in the former apartment of Margherita d’Austria
Virtual section with oral testimonies and documentaries
Archaeological finds from the plateau, including the Sabine tombs of Valle Fana
Housed in the former convent of San Francesco

Permanent exhibitions

Sezione demoantropologica – Tools of rural life and food production, looms, spindles and embroidery in the former friars’ cells.
Sezione archeologica – Finds from excavations on the Leonessa plateau, including the Sabine chamber tombs of Valle Fana.

Founded: 2002