Museum of Iron and Cast Iron
The collection on display in the Museum of Iron and Cast Iron in Follonica, located in the old ILVA factories, attests to the local economy based on the creation of artistic iron works.
Follonica was in fact an important industrial and commercial centre for the minerals mined in the Colline Metallifere.
With the closing of the facilities in 1970, many wooden models and examples of artistic casting risked being lost forever.
The old building that once housed the Furnace of San Ferdinando was converted into a museum in 1995 to document ancient casting techniques and the ironworks in use in Etruscan times.
Of the numerous artefacts on display in the archaeological section of the Museum, which collects materials discovered in the urban district of Rondelli, is an authentic Etruscan forge.
This complex is an important example of industrial archaeology, a true factory-city that allows visitors to follow the history of ironworking and the steel industry from Etruscan times through to 1970.
Museo del Ferro e della Ghisa
Via Bicocchi - Area ex ILVA
50822 Follonica (GR), Italy
Tel. 0566 59243
museo@comune.follonica.gr.it
www.comune.follonica.gr.it/museo
