MaM — Museo Archeologico del Chianti Senese (Abbadia Isola)

The Museum of Monteriggioni, known as the MaM, occupies the former monastery of Abbadia a Isola. Its collections connect the abbey's medieval history with Etruscan archaeology and the later history of settlements in the surrounding territory.

Why it matters

The MaM brings together the history of Abbadia a Isola and the archaeology of the Chianti Senese. Founded in 1001 by Ava dei Lambardi di Staggia, the monastic complex includes the Romanesque church of Saints Salvatore and Cirino, a crypt and a 1476 altarpiece by Sano di Pietro. The museum also presents archaeological material from the territory, including finds associated with the Calisna Sepu tomb group, discovered in 1893 and later dispersed among European collections. A reconstruction brings together information about the tomb and its dispersed contents.

What to notice

The Tinaia room presents finds from the Castello di Staggia and burials from the abbey's cloister, including material associated with the Lambardi, Soarzi and Franzesi families. A reconstruction interprets the clothing and ornaments of a Franzesi noblewoman. The Sala Sigerico presents settlement in the Piana del Casone and Monte Maggio from prehistory through the Roman period. A display and reconstruction present the Calisna Sepu tomb group, whose objects date from the late fourth to second centuries BC. Material from the Campassini site documents a settlement dated from the late eighth to early sixth century BC.

Context and history

The museum's galleries occupy the monastery that developed around the abbey church. The sequence of church, cloister, monastic rooms and burial ground reflects the site's changing functions. Its archaeology focuses on the surrounding territory: the settlement at Campassini, the Etruscan Calisna Sepu family and the medieval development of the valley under the Lambardi and later Siena. The Calisna Sepu display uses reconstruction to explain a group whose objects are now held in different collections.