The Tuscia Ceramics Museum is located in the heart of Viterbo’s historic center, just a few steps from the town square and the medieval San Pellegrino district. The institution was established in 1996 thanks to the initiative of the Carivit Foundation and the Municipality of Viterbo and is undoubtedly one of the most interesting cultural venues of the city. It is unique among city museums in having received the Quality Mark from the Lazio Region – Museum Office, awarded in recognition of its excellent compliance with required standards and the quality of services offered to the public. The museum occupies the ground floor premises of the 17th-century Palazzo Brugiotti, which belonged to one of the most important families of the Viterbo patriciate, and is divided into five large rooms. The exhibition pathway presents the evolution of ceramic production in Viterbo and Upper Lazio, from the first unglazed biscuit forms, to glazed ones, to enamelled objects, until the 19th century with mold-made ceramics for sweets. Most of the ceramic artifacts on display were found in the disposal wells, popularly called “butti,” of the historic centers of Upper Lazio. These are wells dug into tuff inside medieval dwellings, intended to collect all kinds of waste, both liquid and solid, such as everyday table scraps or broken utensils. This method of waste disposal was regulated by city laws; in Todi in 1275, it was established that all citizens had to throw garbage and all kinds of scraps into cavities dug into the tuff, located either outside or inside the home walls. By 1324, the same rule had extended to Orvieto, but it is likely, analyzing the recovered materials, that in the meantime other cities, including Viterbo, had adopted this hygienic principle. In recent years, with the renovation of historic centers, many of these wells have come to light, yielding, along with bones and other materials, many ceramic fragments now patiently restored by conservators.
Information about Tuscia Ceramics Museum
Via Cavour, 67
01100 Viterbo (Viterbo)
0761346136
laboratorioceramica@libero.it
https://www.museodellaceramicadellatuscia.com/
Source: MIBACT
