Museo regionale della ceramica, Ceramic museum in Caltagirone, Italy
The Museo Regionale della Ceramica is a museum in Caltagirone dedicated to ceramic arts and displays several thousand objects from different periods. The exhibition includes vessels, tiles, and decorative pieces that document the history of pottery making in Sicily.
The museum was founded in 1965 to preserve the region's significant ceramic tradition. Since its establishment, it has grown into an important institution for documenting and protecting Sicily's ceramic heritage.
The collection displays techniques and patterns that local potters still use in their workshops today. You can see how traditional shapes and decorations continue in contemporary production around the city.
Access is from via Roma, the old royal road Maria Carolina opened in the 18th century, which runs beside the public garden. A majolica-decorated balustrade lines the route up to the Teatrino, a terraced staircase with 18th-century ceramic tiles designed by the Syracusan architect Natale Bonajuto; the museum stands at the top. Part of the collection is temporarily shown at Palazzo Libertini di San Marco.
The museum's collection began with finds from Caltagirone's own kilns: a 5th-century BC red-figure krater showing a potter's workshop under the protection of Athena was found inside a furnace active in the Greek era. Other pieces come from Sant'Ippolito, Monte San Mauro and Ortigia, near the Temple of Apollo.
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