Museums

The Mineral and Mining Art Museum is located in the centre of Rio Marina, hosted inside the historic Mine’s headquarter, il Palazzo del Burò, a building of about 700sqm.

The first section is entirely dedicated to the local minerals: our collection is one of the most important on the Island and it includes samples of exceptional beauty.

The museum itinerary proceeds with the geological history of Elba Island and its deposits, exploited from the late seventh century. The mines are renowned for their plenty and continued to be worked until 1981, supplying the entire Tyrrhenian Sea area and beyond with iron.

The museum also explores the working life in the iron mines through original artefacts and some reconstructions – including a small section of a gallery – made by industrial archaeology experts using the original material and the work tools found on the old sites.

The Archeological Museum is located in Rio nell’Elba, in a place better known as Barcocaio for the presence of numerous apricot trees.

The Museum illustrates the history of the island from the Bronze Ages to the Middle Ages and it preserves the Mineral Collection of the People of Rio, an evocative collection of local minerals followed by an explanation of the geological origin of eastern Elba, its extraordinary minerals and the different metallurgical techniques used.