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The Mauro Zelli Civic Museum of Folk Anthropology: rural memories in the residence of Margaret of Austria
In the historic centre of Leonessa, the former convent of San Francesco (St Francis) has housed since 2002 the Mauro Zelli Civic Museum, dedicated to the rural culture of the highlands. The Conventual Friars occupied it from 1280 to 1809, before being expelled as a result of Napoleonic legislation. There is more to the story: in 1550, Margaret of Austria, daughter of Charles V, obtained a papal dispensation to establish her residence here during her stays in Leonessa. The locals called her la Madama.
From monastic cells to women's crafts
The museum itinerary is divided into two sections. The ethno-anthropological section occupies the former friars' cells: the first room displays implements for food production — presses, millstones, wooden tubs (conche) — donated by local inhabitants. The second, housed in Margaret's own apartments, displays looms, spindles and embroideries. Working with the conche, if the ladle sank in the water first thing in the morning, it meant the dead were asking for prayers. Every object carries its own ritual.
Archaeology in the crypts
In the underground level of the convent, the archaeological section preserves finds from excavations on the plateau, the borderland between the Sabine and the Umbrian peoples. A tomb dating to the 2nd century BC, brought to light in 2001, contained the remains of a man buried with an ox and of a woman with her funerary grave goods.
