Museo della Villa di Plinio il Giovane

The Museum of the Villa of Pliny the Younger at Celalba interprets archaeological finds from Colle Plinio and the Roman villa in Tuscis.

Why it matters

The museum connects Pliny the Younger's descriptions of his Tuscan villa with excavated material from the upper Tiber Valley. Its reconstructions and collections present the history of the Roman estate and its later occupation.

What to notice

A scale model reconstructs the villa in Tuscis. Exhibits include architectural terracottas, black-glaze pottery, amphorae, brick stamps, tableware, glass, bone objects and coins. A section of the museum uses the villa's cellars to interpret Roman wine production.

Context and history

Archaeological research at Colle Plinio was carried out by the Universities of Perugia and Alicante with the regional archaeological superintendency between 1986 and 2003. The museum opened in Villa Magherini Graziani, a seventeenth-century building by Antonio Cantagallina that the municipality acquired in 1982 and restored as a cultural venue.