In addition to fossils, various rock samples have been collected from the Monsummano hill. Particular attention has been given to the marbles that, since the Middle Ages, have been used extensively in important buildings, like the red marble used to decorate the Florentine churches of S. Maria del Fiore...
The area’s population dynamics from proto-historic era to the Middle Ages are documented here. During the Etrusco-Roman era, Valdinievole was primarily a transit area in which some stopping places of a sacred nature are evidenced by the bronze statue of Hercules Promachos from the III century B.C.,...
A collection of iconographic materials document the Padule’s historical geography since the beginning of the XVI century. Moreover, particular attention has been given to the various uses of the lake basin from a natural resources point of view (reeds and fishing) as well as for the commercial...
The grand-ducal farms. Maps and image collections show the structure and characteristics of the grand-ducal farms that were distributed around the lake-marsh, forming the estates of Ponte a Cappiano, Altopascio, Montevettolini Stabbia, Bellavista, Terzo, and Castelmartini. Moreover, the types of buildings...
The experimental science of Galileo Galilei and his students and the connection between astronomical studies and maps were transformed into the district’s new culture that developed in Tuscany during the Enlightenment and were effectively applied to land reclamation operations in the Valdinievole...
Among the more valuable and well-known works of sacred art are such rare jewels as the Crown of the Madonna, with gold and precious stones, a gift of the Medici Grand Duke, as well as many items of goldsmithery. No less important are the liturgical furnishings that represent a very important textile...
Astronomy and geography in Enlightenment Tuscany.The planetarium’s presence and activity produces an important demonstration of the relationship between astronomical studies and the territory’s cartographic representation. In fact, thanks to the policy of the Lorraine grand dukes, the territory’s...
An analysis of occupational specializations has identified some “typical” trades, documented by an exhibition both of various pieces of equipment and of photographs that illustrate the ways the work was carried out and related production cycles. One particular area is dedicated to footwear...
This section illustrates the serendipitous discovery of the Giusti cave as well as the healing and therapeutic virtues of its waters, following by the development of the thermal spa business with the construction of the Grotta Parlanti facility. In short, evidence of spa tourism and its effects on the...
In the period between the two wars, there was an important migratory trend that combined difficulties in the agricultural world with highly political reasons. A significant change in the social fabric added to a transformation in rural settlement conditions, with the population shift in the villages...
At 6 o’clock in the morning on 23 August 1944, the Nazis led by local fascists, arrived at the Pratogrande tobacco drying-shed (Ponte Buggianese) where their first victims were nine women and three boys, while the few men hiding in the nearby reeds were intercepted and killed one by one with a...