Museo della Terra

About the museum

The Museo della Terra in Latera was born from the passion of Luigi Poscia, a farmer from the village who, from the 1970s onwards, began collecting objects to preserve traces of a rural world destined to disappear under the advance of plastics, agricultural mechanisation and mass media.

In 1993 the collection was inventoried by students of the Università La Sapienza di Roma, and in the same year the municipality bought the Grancia di San Pietro, the ancient building that now houses the museum. After the restoration project approved in 1995, the first display was inaugurated on 22 May 1999 and the current one on 19 October 2003, curated by the architect Lorenzo Greppi and the anthropologist Luciana Mariotti.

On the ground floor, eighteen display units are organised in three groups, the interior, the exterior and the exchange, and tell the story of farming, livestock raising and crafts in iron, wood and leather, linked to domestic life and markets. A multipurpose hall supports initiatives for intangible heritage, while on the upper floor audiovisual materials present popular religiosity, festivals, games, sounds and songs. Outside, a garden with traditional crops and aromatic and medicinal plants completes the visit. The museum is part of the Sistema museale del lago di Bolsena and of the DEMOS anthropological system.

Highlights

• Poscia collection of objects of rural life, gathered over more than twenty years
• Eighteen display units on interior, exterior and exchange: farming, livestock and crafts
• Audiovisual materials on popular religiosity, festivals, games, sounds and songs
• Outdoor garden with vineyard, orchard, Mediterranean scrub and medicinal and herbal plants
• Guided tour with the director in 12 videos, with English subtitles and in LIS (Italian Sign Language)

Permanent exhibitions

• Collezione Poscia – Eighteen display units with objects of farming, livestock raising and crafts in iron, wood and leather, linked to domestic life and markets.
• Il patrimonio immateriale – On the upper floor, audiovisual materials on popular religiosity, festivals, games, sounds and traditional songs.

Founded

1999

Operated by

Comune di Latera

Visitors per year

approx. 1,200

Admission & discounts

Free admission for residents of the municipality of Latera.

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

According to the service charter, for people with mobility impairments the exhibition rooms on one floor are accessible, and the ground floor only partly, due to the flooring.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

The museum is housed in the Grancia di San Pietro, on Via dell’Osteria, in Latera. Signposted routes from the museum lead to the rural churches of San Rocco, San Sebastiano and Madonna della Cava.

Amenities & dining

Leaflets, guides and brochures are available at the ticket office.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit