Museum The Archaeological Museum G. Camporeale

The Archaeological Museum of Massa Marittima was established in 1993 from the former Civic Museum, and on the initiative of Giovannangelo Camporeale, Professor of Etruscology at the University of Florence. The Civic Museum was founded together with the Municipal Library in 1867, and initially housed a small collection of objects from donations. Over a short period of time this saw a significant increase, especially with a first nucleus of archaeological finds from Canino and Vulci, sent to the first Museum Director Stefano Galli by his son, a teacher at Canino. These archaeological assemblages were further enriched between the end of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, thanks also to excavations and archaeological surveys carried out in the surrounding territory by Doro Levi, an Inspector of the Superintendence of Etruria, and Gaetano Badii, who succeeded Galli as Museum and Library Director.

From first occupying a room in the Convent of San Francesco, the Civic Museum was often transferred over the years. In 1958 it was set up in the 15th century Palazzetto delle Armi, where particular attention was given to the archaeological finds with a new arrangement organized by Professor Giorgio Monaco of the Superintendence for the Antiquities of Etruria. Finally, in the 1970s, the Civic Museum moved to its present location, the exhibit comprising all the assemblages collected over time and including archaeological finds, mementos dating back to the unification of Italy and the art gallery with the famous Maestà by Ambrogio Lorenzetti (now in the Museum of San Pietro all’Orto).

In 1985, during the regional event celebrating “L’Anno degli Etruschi”, Professor Camporeale succeeded in including Massa Marittima as part of the circuit for the exhibit “L’Etruria Mineraria”, that was held simultaneously at Portoferraio and Populonia.

For the first time materials that had emerged in the four years of excavation campaigns launched by Camporeale himself in 1980 at the Etruscan settlement in the vicinity of Lago dell’Accesa were put on display in the Civic Museum.

Following this event, which had great public impact and set the focus on Massa Marittima as the seat of an Etruscan settlement of some importance, work continued at l’Accesa without interruption, the Professor making the commitment, in agreement with the municipal administration, to dedicate the entire Palazzo del Podestà to archaeology. At last the project came to fruition in 1993 with the official inauguration of the Archaeological Museum.  In the first years of the new millennium the Museum underwent a series of modifications with the new display of Prehistoric finds for the most part recovered during excavations supervised by archaeologist Biancamaria Aranguren of the Archaeological Superintendence of Tuscany, demonstrating the importance of the territory of Massa during Prehistory, especially from the Eneolithic (the Copper Age) onwards, thanks also to the wealth of metal ore deposits present in the area.

In 2019 the Archaeological Museum was named after Professor Camporeale, a tribute to a great scholar who with perseverance and determination managed to bring Massa Marittima to the forefront of the archaeological world, making this Museum and its territory a point of reference for both scholars and visitors alike.