Explore the MUVIS (Museum of Wine and Agri-food Sciences), the largest museum of its kind in Europe, with 2,000 m² of exhibition space. Located in the heart of Castiglione in Teverina, the museum is set inside the former Vaselli Cellars—a vast five-level winery (ground/upper levels plus four underground floors) unused for nearly 20 years.
Descend 27 metres into the hill, exploring the world of wine production “of yesterday.” At level -4, reach the “Cathedral,” an awe-inspiring space with giant wooden barrels up to 3.5 metres in diameter. The exhibition is designed for deep visitor “immersion” through photos, videos, stories, tools, machinery, and large-scale installations, connecting wine, agri-food culture, local history, and the rural world.
Begin your route in the Hall (history of the cellar, distribution, and the Vaselli family), continue to the Room of Reflections and Transparencies (wine’s imagery and forms in life and art), then the Map Room (aerial view of the Tiber Valley; comparison of indigenous grape varieties and local territories with the wider Italian/regional wine landscape; intact concrete fermentation tanks with original cast-iron openings).
In the Memory Room, an elevated walkway leads into “cut” wine vats, immersing you in the dim physical space where wine was stored—“inside the wine, inside its memory.” The Shipping Room presents the final stage before market, with the former oenology lab tools of Riccardo Cotarella, historic bottling machines, and materials such as crates, travel packaging, labels, and posters.
The Historic Cellar shows areas once used to age reds in Bordeaux-style wooden barrels and selected bottles in a protected reserve. Finally, descend from level -3 through a curving corridor lined with barrels to reach the legendary Cathedral.