Museo delle maioliche medievali e rinascimentali orvietane

Underground museum in Orvieto, in the rooms of an old kiln, with kiln waste and medieval and Renaissance majolica produced in Via della Cava.

Opening hours unknownAdmission €5

Directions

About the museum

The museum extends underground beneath a house in Orvieto's historic centre, in the rooms of an old kiln. Two kilns that operated in Via della Cava from the second half of the 14th century until beyond the mid-16th century were found here, and one of them is still visible. The collection consists mainly of waste from these kilns, supplemented by majolica acquired later that is linked to them.

The value of the collection lies in having traced back to Orvieto productions that were believed to come from elsewhere: many Renaissance majolica pieces held in Italian and foreign museums, attributed to Deruta, Faenza, Montelupo or Gubbio, in fact bear coats of arms and motifs typical of the Orvieto area. The kiln waste shows that the quality of local production remained very high.

The route comprises ten rooms, including the Cistern Room, where water was drawn for processing; the Kiln Room, with an almost intact kiln which the museum presents as the only surviving 15th-century kiln; the Trecento Room (14th-century room); the Room of Symbols, with the most important pieces; and the Room of the Small Cups, with over four hundred cups that testify to the almost industrial production of the kiln.

Highlights

Almost intact 15th-century kiln
Kiln waste from the Via della Cava kilns (14th to 16th century)
Room of Symbols with the most important pieces
Room of the Small Cups with over 400 examples
Cistern Room for ceramic processing

Permanent exhibition

Maioliche medievali e rinascimentali orvietane – Ten rooms with kiln waste and majolica produced in Orvieto between the 14th and 16th centuries, and the 15th-century kiln.