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Acquapendente City Museum: Medieval Ceramics and Sacred Furnishings in the Heart of Tuscia
The Museo della Città is located in Acquapendente, in the Bishop's Palace overlooking Piazza del Duomo. The museum was established in 1999 to collect evidence of local history from the Middle Ages to the 19th century: ceramics, sacred goldwork, liturgical vestments and archival documents. The museum’s rooms are housed in the historic spaces of the palace, with frescoed ceilings and original terracotta floors. The collection documents Acquapendente's role as a stopping point on the Via Francigena and a centre of ceramic production.
The Collections
The archaeological section displays Etruscan and Roman finds discovered in the area: black-glazed pottery, amphorae, coins and votive objects. The medieval section contains archaic majolica produced in Acquapendente between the 13th and 15th centuries, when the town had active pottery workshops serving the local market and pilgrims on the Francigena. There are plates, jugs and bowls decorated with geometric and animal motifs. The sacred art section houses reliquaries, chalices, embroidered copes and a 14th-century processional cross in gilded silver.
The Archive Library
The museum includes the Archive Library, a documentary collection preserving parchments from the 11th century, notarial deeds, parish registers and bishops' correspondence. It is an important source for studying the history of northern Tuscia. The palazzo is located just steps away from the Cathedral of the Holy Sepulchre, the crypt of Heavenly Jerusalem and the medieval historic centre.
