By Simone Bandini
Soon to be inaugurated in the spring of 2027, the ‘M.A.DO.T. – Archaeological Museum and Documentation Center of Torrita’ already arouses great curiosity, especially thanks to the close collaboration with the Poliziani High Schools of Montepulciano which has already brought interesting and pioneering projects to the area. We talked about it with Councillor Roberto Trabalzini and School Principal Prof. Marco Mosconi.
The museum will be housed in Via Roma, on the ground floor of the municipal building of the Edmondo de Amicis Schools and has been designed as a civic garrison of archaeological memory, a documentation centre of the territory and, in particular, a place of dialogue between scientific research and the community. A cultural space and civic reference point, it was created with the aim of making the archaeological heritage of the area accessible and, above all, of telling the story of the territory to its inhabitants, actively involving them in the construction of a shared narrative of their past: “The project is based on the belief that archaeology does not represent exclusively a set of finds to be exhibited, but a process of collective knowledge and recognition, capable of strengthening the link between community and territory. In this perspective, the M.A.DO.T. intends to bring together in a single location the archaeological materials now preserved in different places, favouring their scientific study and documentation, but also their return to the community as a common heritage, interpretable and shareable,” says Roberto Trabalzini.
So what will be the contents, objects and artifacts displayed by the Museum?
Let’s start by saying that the chronological span documented through the finds goes from the sixth century BC to the sixth century AD. The information panels will also illustrate much older phases of the territory, through drawings and graphic reconstructions, descriptions in Italian and English, symbols, QRcodes to access multimedia content. The M.A.DO.T. will therefore welcome a selection of the most significant finds recovered on the occasion of archaeological investigations unpublished for the general public. The materials come from reconnaissance conducted over time by the local archaeological group ‘Circolo Culturale Fra Jacopo da Torrita’, which has made it possible to recompose the territorial settlement panorama of the Etruscan and Roman ages in the area, and from the excavations carried out in the eighties and nineties by the University of Siena, in collaboration with the Municipality of Torrita di Siena, the Circolo and the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the provinces of Siena, Grosseto and Arezzo.
There have been a total of three excavation campaigns, starting in 1983. During the first excavation campaign, carried out following reports of archaeological outcrops resulting from ploughing, three burials with capuchin tombs were found, in the locality of “Pantani – Le Gore”. The subsequent excavations brought to light two important realities: the furnace of the ceramist Umbricio Cordo, active around 70 AD, in which they produced, among other things, artifacts in Arezzo sealed earth, as well as bricks, and a Roman post station, Manliana, with adjoining craft and commercial areas.
The locality of Manliana is also reported in the Tabula Peuntingeriana; this post station was in fact located along a diverticulum of the Via Cassia that passed on the western edge of the Val di Chiana, connecting the ancient Clusium (Chiusi) and Saena Iulia (Siena); for the arrival and redistribution of goods it also took advantage of its proximity to the Clanis river, navigable in Roman times and a tributary of the Tiber.The finds and structures found during the excavations document the life of the Statio Manliana from the imperial period until the late antique period, having remained active until the sixth century AD.
Thanks to the precious collaboration with the Poliziani High Schools, Italia 3D Academy and the Franchi Foundation, the museum will host several multimedia stations focused on the reconstructions of the Torrita localities involved in the excavations in 3D and a video game that tells the life of Ubricio Cordo, a potter potter who really lived and was active between 49 and 29 BC.
The “Umbricii Ludus” project is an innovative educational video game in Latin, and also in seven other languages, created by the students of the Poliziani High Schools of Montepulciano.
In this regard, we interviewed the School Principal Marco Mosconi: “The M.A.DO.T. represents a concrete example of how culture, school and territory can grow together. For the Poliziani High Schools, this collaboration is not just an exhibition project, but an educational path that allows students to become protagonists in the enhancement of the historical and archaeological heritage of the Valdichiana. We are particularly proud that inside the museum there is Umbricius Ludus, the video game in Latin and Greek conceived and developed by our students, an innovative project that has gone beyond the boundaries of the school (it has been translated into numerous languages and has also aroused interest internationally, ed.). It is the demonstration that the classical world can dialogue with the most advanced technologies and speak the language of the new generations. I thank the Municipality of Torrita di Siena for believing in this initiative from the beginning and for supporting the work of the school”.
Mosconi then added: “The school has the task of transmitting knowledge, but also of creating living links with the history, culture and identity of the communities in which it operates. The M.A.DO.T. will be a meeting place between research, innovation and training and a cultural reference point for the Valdichiana. The collaboration with the Poliziani High Schools will continue to develop through new projects, educational activities, research paths and initiatives capable of involving students, citizens and visitors from all over Italy and abroad.”
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