Museo della città

The museum has three exhibition spaces along the street axis which coincides with the urban crossing of the Via Francigena, still the backbone of the urban center. At the south entrance of the town stands Torre Julia de Jacopo or Porta del Santo Sepolcro, which houses a collection of archaic majolica found in the former convent of St. Augustine. The former convent of the Friars Minor Conventual is situated at the far north of town, near Porta della Ripa which leads to Siena; several paintings are on display in the picture gallery of the convent. The main venue is hosted by the former Palazzo Vescovile, built after the establishment of the new diocese of Acquapendente in 1649. Here visitors can admire works in the sacred art collection (paintings on canvas and wood, vestments, furnishings), particularly the marble bust of Pope Innocent X by 17th century sculptor Alessandro Algardi and the lunette with Cristo morto tra angeli (around 1505) by Girolamo Benvenuto. The site also houses a collection of ceramic objects, the result of intensive excavations in the area around Acquapendente. The findings are placed chronologically in a span of time ranging from the mediaeval period to the 20th century, evidence of uninterrupted centuries of production. On the second floor, there is a new section dedicated to the theme of the Via Francigena, where there is also a huge more than 26-metre long relief depicting the Via Francigena from Canterbury to Rome. With the help of videos and an exhibition of objects, the general subjects treated along the way cover concepts and aspects of past civilisations in which the road acted as carrier over the centuries: the topics of faith and pilgrimage, trade, borders and communications, sieges and war, hospitality and folklore.