In the nineteenth century, in Orvieto, digging Etruscan tombs was a family business: you bought a field, opened a necropolis, and what came out stayed in the house. The Faina museum was born that way, as a private collection gathered from 1864, and it is still in the family's palace, exactly opposite the cathedral.
What to see
The collection of Greek vases is the main reason to go in: Attic black- and red-figure pottery of the sixth and fifth centuries before Christ, which came here because the Etruscans imported it and had it buried beside them. There are dozens, in excellent condition, and they let you follow the passage from one style to another by looking at the pieces in a row.
On the ground floor are the materials from Orvieto: fragments of the pediments of the Belvedere temple, the cippus with a warrior's head from the necropolis of the Crocifisso del Tufo, and the Venus of Cannicella, a Greek marble statue found in the sanctuary outside the walls. There is also a collection of ancient coins.
Visiting
The museum is in piazza del Duomo, opposite the cathedral; paid ticket, with a weekly closing day and shorter hours in winter. An hour and a half.
Our editors' tip
Lean out of the windows on the main floor: you have the front of Orvieto cathedral before your eyes, level with the mosaics and the pinnacles, which from the square can only be seen from below. It is the view the owners of the house had, and it is included in the museum ticket.