A grand building celebrating the culture and history of the original Chianti region was officially inaugurated in Gaiole in Chianti on March 23, 2024. The structure, in the past serving as the wine cellars (cantine) of the prominent Chianti family of the Ricasoli, is now a cultural axis featuring archaeological displays, a painting gallery, a room dedicated to the vineyards and landscape of Chianti, and a unique bicycle museum.

Under the management of the Opera Laboratori Fiorentini, the museum is directed by Italian archaeologist Dr. Marco Firmati.  The archaeological displays feature a balance of sites at Cetamura del Chanti (Etruscan, Roman and Medieval habitation), San Marcellino a Monti (elite Roman habitation), and San Giusto a Rentennano (Etruscan cemetery).  After numerous Cetamura exhibitions in Italy in Florence, Siena and San Giovanni Valdarno, the Gaiole building provides the permanent home for finds from Florida State University excavations at Cetamura.  

The bicycle museum celebrates the world-famous race staged regularly in the fall at Gaiole, the Eroica, the “Heroic” marathon-like all-day competition on unimproved roads in the Chianti region. Innovative displays of the “Casa Eroica” with virtual reality allow the visitor to experience the thrills of the pre-dawn start of the race and the marvelous landscapes seen along the roads in the hills.

The Origo Chianti inauguration ceremony was held in the museum auditorium, presided over by Gaiole Mayor Michele Pescini and featuring representatives from Opera Laboratori and from the Italian Superintendency for archaeology. Attending to represent Cetamura were Director Nancy de Grummond and Lab Director Ceil Bare, along with the Bucher-Loewenstein Cetamura Interns for 2024, Allison Boroff and Sarah Moloney.

For more about Origo Chianti, click here.