MUSMA, the Matera Museum of Contemporary Sculpture, is the only cave museum in the world and the most important Italian museum entirely dedicated to sculpture.

It’s no coincidence that Italy’s largest museum dedicated to sculpture was founded in a city, Matera, which was carved from rock, thanks to the ease of working with calcarenite, the material from which it is made.

Inaugurated in 2006, MUSMA was created in a context of incredible historical value: Palazzo Pomarici, nestled in the heart of the Sasso Caveoso and built between the 16th and 17th centuries on a pre-existing nucleus of caves dug into the tuff, a portion of which had been home to a Dominican convent in the 13th century.

Matera is like a great sculpture; it isn’t built: it’s excavated.

In 1697, the building was sold by its then owner, Count Placido d’Affitto, to Cesare Pomarici, a young patrician descendant of a wealthy noble family from Potenza. He expanded it, so much so that it was nicknamed the “Palace of a Hundred Rooms.” It then suffered from the city’s decline, and it was finally abandoned in 1952 following the Special Law that ordered the evacuation of the “Sassi di Matera” for hygiene reasons.

Today, the Palace is an incredible historical document of life in Matera from the 17th century to the present day, a stunning display of caves, cisterns, palmenti (where grapes were pressed to make wine), and stone shelves carved by artisans.

An exceptional setting for approximately 400 sculptures by various contemporary artists—including Kengiro Azuma, Arturo Martini, Mimmo Paladino, and Arnaldo Pomodoro, to name just a few—displayed across 2,000 square meters, including seven caves shaped by nature, three courtyards, the Hunting Rooms, four rooms with ancient wall paintings, and ten rooms on the upper floor of the building.

The idea of ​​using evocative cave settings as “exhibition rooms” for sculpture exhibitions has ancient roots. MUSMA is, in fact, the result of the long-standing experience of the Grandi Mostre nei Sassi di Matera (Great Exhibitions in the Sassi of Matera), organized since 1978 by the Circolo La Scaletta and curated by Giuseppe Appella with the support of internationally renowned art historians.

MUSMA, founded by the Zètema Foundation, today illustrates the history of Italian and international sculpture from the late 19th century to the present with a rich body of works: sculptures, ceramics, medals, jewelry, drawings, graphic works, and artist’s books.

It is also enriched by a collection of monographs, art catalogs, literary and nonfiction texts, original photographs, and documents destined for the Vanni Scheiwiller Library, which was founded with the help of Alina Kalczynska, wife of the renowned publisher and collector.

MUSMA is truly a museum worth visiting, especially for the experience of seeing sculptures by major contemporary artists dedicated to this art form, immersed in one of the most incredible monumental artworks in the world: Matera, the sculpted city.

The Secret

MUSMA also features works by José García Ortega, the famous Spanish sculptor and painter, whose home in Matera has been transformed into a splendid house museum by the Zètema Foundation (a visit is possible at a reduced price of €5 if you have a MUSMA ticket, or vice versa).

Useful Info

MUSMA Matera
Via S. Giacomo
75100 Matera
Tel. +39 366 9357768

Ticket: Full price €10