Since Gonfienti - an area situated between Prato and Campi Bisenzio - has not still disclosed its treasures to scholars and tourist, the only way to get better acquainted with the mysterious Etruscan people is to visit the Etruscan Archaelogical Museum of Artimino.

A hamlet situated on a charming hill in the municipality of Carmignano, Artimino has been renowned since the 16th century for the "Ferdinanda", one of the most beautiful Tuscan villas realized by order of the Medici family according to a design by Bernardo Buontalenti.

In the early 1980s the museum was inaugurated right in the basement of the villa. Since 2011, however, it is sited in the medieval village nearby, in a two-storey building in which one floor is dedicated to the "world of the living" and the second to the "world of the dead". It houses everyday objects and funeral trappings that have been found in nearby Pietramarina on the Montalbano hills, in the tumuli of Boschetti and Montefortini - near Comeana - and in Prato Rosello, in Artimino.

The staff of the Etruscan Archaeological Museum of Artimino organises didactic activities dedicated to children, a service that may prove to be particularly interesting for those visitors who travel with their family.

PS: after having visited the museum, spend some hours in the medieval village. A breathtaking panorama and delicious titbits are waiting for you (it is not by chance that Florentines and Prateses drive or walk to Artimino on Sundays afternoons).