The "Maurizio Violo" Museum of Art and Mineral Deposits
The Museum of Mining and Mineral Deposits was created in 1984 from a donation by Associazione Assomarmi, of 100 slabs of Italian ornamental rocks. Initially it was located at the "La Sapienza" University of Rome, at the Department of Chemical Engineering of Materials, Raw Materials and Metallurgy, via Eudossania n. 18 in Rome. In October 2000 it was moved to the Faculty of Civil and Industrial Engineering at the Latina Campus, to its own premises. Over time new samples were added to the collection. To date it is constituted by approximately 150 ornamental rock slabs from various regions in Italy. The artefacts on display are enriched by photographic, cartographic and illustrative material regarding extraction techniques, quarries, stratigraphic series and more. The aim of the Museum is to provide an overview, as complete as possible, of the main Italian ornamental rocks, which are sourced as commodities. It was deemed most appropriate to maintain commercial names, sometimes not strictly related with the lithotype, but more familiar.
The Museum contains two collections:
- The ornamental rock collection with approximately 150 slabs from different Italian regions.
- The mineralised rock collection
The Museum's exhibition spaces consist of two halls covering an area of about 1000 m2, equipped with audio-visual systems (large hall with projector and a small one equipped with a multimedia screen), where it is possible to organise exhibitions and events. The mineralised rock collection is located in the larger hall. The exhibition area also extends along the corridors of the Faculty of Civil and Industrial Engineering at the Latina campus, with small boards containing ornamental rocks and a total area of about 2500 m2. The Museum also contains two multimedia screens installed at the entrance of the Faculty hall and the Museum.
