Subterraneo – Museo della Miniera
Mining museum in Massa Marittima: a guided route of 700 metres through reconstructed galleries, and rooms with tools, maps and minerals.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
In the 1970s mining activity in the Colline Metallifere began to decline, until the plants finally closed about twenty years later. At that time a group of former miners and citizens, brought together in the COMASAM committee and the Gruppo Mineralogico, began collecting disused tools, documents and machinery, and proposed to the municipality that a museum be dedicated to mining history.
Two institutions were thus created: the Museo della Miniera, housed in a network of tunnels dug into the travertine hill that overlooks the historic centre, and the Museo di Arte e Storia delle Miniere, dedicated to tools, cartography and mineral samples. The tunnels, partly natural and partly opened in the Middle Ages to extract building stone, were also used as air-raid shelters during the Second World War. The former miners themselves set up the galleries, recreating working environments such as the timber store, the powder magazine, the canteen and the various systems of supports and excavation.
In 2022 the Museo di Arte e Storia delle Miniere, previously housed in the 15th-century Palazzetto delle Armi, was moved to a former primary school building of the 1930s near the mine entrance. The two museums are now brought together under the name Subterraneo, which offers a single itinerary through the exhibition rooms and the gallery route.
Highlights
- Gallery route of about 700 metres on a single level, with three tunnels
- Working environments rebuilt by former miners: timber store, powder magazine, canteen
- Original wagons, excavators and pneumatic drills
- Tunnels used as air-raid shelters in the Second World War
- Rooms with tools, mine maps, geological sections and minerals
- Founded
- 1980
- Operated by
- Comune di Massa Marittima
- Director
- Claudia Mori
Admission & discounts
| Adults | €8 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | €6residents of Massa Marittima, over 65s, young people aged 6 to 18, groups of 20 people (by reservation), university students under 26, journalists on the professional register, teachers with the Edmusei card, and members of ICOM, FAI, Parcheocard and Touring Club |
| Children & teens | €6free up to age 5 · Free under 6; young people aged 6 to 18 with a reduced ticket |
| Visitors with disabilities | freecompanion free · Free admission for people with disabilities and a companion |
| Groups (20+ people) | €6 per personGroups of 20 people, by prior reservation |
Also free for schools in Massa Marittima, for guides and tourist interpreters accompanying groups, and for holders of the Carta dello Studente Universitario. Reductions require showing a document or card. For combined tickets and discounted rates, you can contact the museum.
Accessibility
- Partially wheelchair accessible
- Elevator: no information
- Accessible restroom: no information
- Accessible parking: no information
- Service dogs welcome: no information
- Tactile models & exhibits: no information
- Sign language tours: no information
- Easy-to-read materials: no information
- Audio description: no information
The Museo di Arte e Storia delle Miniere is fully accessible; the mine route is only partly accessible. Routes and workshops can be adapted to specific needs.
Kids & families
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Getting there & parking
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Amenities & dining
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Plan your visit
| Guided tours | yes · approx. 50 min |
|---|---|
| Good to know | The mine can only be visited with a guided escort at set times; booking is strongly recommended (tel. 0566 906525 or accoglienzamuseimassa@gmail.com). In the tunnel the temperature is about 12°C: closed, comfortable shoes and suitable clothing are needed. |
