Orvieto’s fascinating Museo delle Maioliche Medievali e Rinascimentali (Museum of Medieval and Renaissance Maiolica Ceramics) was set up inside a disused ancient furnace in one of the oldest parts of the city, in Via della Cava. The sumptuous collection derives from the output and scraps of two ancient kilns located in same street and active for about two hundred years, between the 14th and 16th centuries.
For a long time it was thought that the maiolica ceramics in Orvieto all came from other parts of Umbria and from central Italy (e.g. Deruta) but a more careful analysis of the stylistic and decorative characteristics of the ceramics at the museum led to the conclusion that most of the production must have been local and exported to other large cities in the region such as Gubbio, Montelupo or Faenza, where the ceramics are identical to those in Orvieto.
The museum consists of ten rooms, each dedicated to a particular section of the exhibition, the most important being the Sala dei Simboli, where the most important pieces are kept.