Civic Museum “The underground city”

Throughout the three particular and interesting sections of the Civic Museum dedicated to Underground City of Chiusi, it offers itself as an educational and cognitive instrument of the complex archeological, historical and geographical reality of the city.

The passage begins in the section called “The Labryinth” with panels, photos, archeological finds, environmental reconstructions and three dimensional models, illustrating the legend of the Mausoleum of Porsenna and introducing the underground itineraries that unfold eight meters below the historical center.

The section dedicated to the productive activities of the ancient Agro Chiusino is set up
in the warehouses and basement of the Palazzo–a true urban farm with built-in cisterns for wine– tells the story of a complex relationship between man and environment in the valley of the ancient river Clanis. At the end of the passage going through an underground tunnel, the visitor can admire an ancient etruscan hydraulic system and striking lake thirty meters deep.

Many artifacts are on display: not only modern containers made from braided swamp plants and wicker, but also Etruscan ceramics made from clay and painted black as well as renaissance majolica. The passage finishes among the oil and wine amphora coming from the collections of the local National Archeological Museum which are appropriately a background for the reconstruction of an Etruscan banquet inspired by painting from the Tomb of Colle.

The visit ends in the underground epigraphic section that hosts approximately 300 cinerary urns and hundreds of inscribed funeral tiles representing one of the most important collections of epigraphical heritage worldwide.