Museum of Fucecchio

The Civic and Diocesan Museum of Fucecchio is located inside Palazzo Corsini, a historical building located in Piazza Vittorio Veneto. The complex also contains the Library and Historical Archives of Fucecchio and stands on the ancient fortified area of the Salamarzana Castle. The Torre di Mezzo (Middle Tower) is of particular interest and can be visited on request, with panoramic views of the Fucecchio Marsh. The museum was inaugurated in 2004 and is part of the Museum Network of Valdarno di Sotto and the Terre del Rinascimento Museum System. It holds archaeological, historical-artistic and naturalistic collections that tell the story of the area from its prehistoric origins to the contemporary period.

In the archaeology section, on the ground floor, artifacts from the Paleolithic period to the 18th century are on display, with Etruscan and Roman ceramics, tools and fossils that bear witness to the local population and trade. Among the rooms that stand out are those dedicated to the Salamarzana Castle, pottery production and river trade along the Arno River. The sacred art section is on the second floor, with paintings from local churches, including works by Giovanni Larciani, Lo Scheggia and Zanobi Machiavelli, as well as reliquaries, chalices and a precious collection of liturgical vestments from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The rooms dedicated to art also contain ancient works linked to St. Peter Igneus and large altarpieces from the 16th and 17th centuries by Florentine artists like Raffaello Botticini and Bernardino Mei. In the Sala delle Oreficerie (goldsmith’s room) there are Tuscan and Florentine-made objects of sacred art on display. Also worthy of note are the room of memorabilia of Giuseppe Montanelli, a local patriot and politician, and the room dedicated to Arturo Checchi, with works by the Fucecchio-born painter from the early 20th century to the 1960s.

On the top floor is the Adolfo Lensi Ornithological Collection, with about 300 bird specimens collected between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, evidence of the historically rich birdlife in the Fucecchio Marsh, which is now very different. The Civic and Diocesan Museum of Fucecchio thus offers a complete cultural itinerary, combining history, art and nature in an architectural and landscape context of great value.

For information on accessibility: museofucecchio.it