The “Isidoro Falchi” Civic Archaeological Museum
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The “Isidoro Falchi” Civic Archaeological Museum

The “Isidoro Falchi” Civic Archaeological Museum houses the history of ancient Vatl in its seven rooms. The history is told by the items from the city’s districts, the necropolises and the Vetulonia area, starting in the Villanovan era, with urns and objects from the characteristic shaft tombs, whose wealth was inherited and expanded by the Etruscan city and its orientalising aristocracies, who showed it of in their magnificent monumental tombs and in their princely trousseaux, full of shiny gold from the city’s workshops. Embossed, filigree and granulation-technique jewellery, the invention of the local goldsmiths, can be found in these trousseaux and in the museum’s display cabinets together with majestic bronze pieces, bucchero jugs, imported pottery and rare Egyptian objects.  The city suffered a period of crisis from the 5th to the 4th century BC, but Vetulonia returned to its former splendour from the 3rd century BC onwards, after the Romans conquered this part of Etruria and its cities. New districts sprang up in the cities, with aristocratic houses decorated with terracotta friezes, elegant bronze statues, large jars for storing food, all of which can be seen in the rooms on the ground floor of the museum. The city also minted coins in this period, with perfect sea symbols of dolphins and tridents on them. It was thanks to some coins gifted to a local doctor who was passionate about archaeology, Isidoro Falchi, that Vetulonia, which had been forgotten during the Middle Ages, was rediscovered at the end of the 19th century. 

The museum was opened in 2000, and was expanded in 2004 with new stories and precious objects that were lent by the archaeological superintendence or donated by private citizens. A cutting-edge route for the visually impaired and blind was installed in 2005, which includes the possibility of setting up tactile laboratories with real museum pieces. The museum can be accessed by anyone, and has podotactile guides, multi-sensory totems with 3D printouts of some items and LIS videos, audio tactile maps and has been a part of the “Museums for Alzheimers” since 2017.