Visita il nuovo Museo Etnografico MAJORANO di Taranto

Visit the A. Majorano Ethnographic Museum, a gem in the splendid 18th-century "Pantaleo" Palace

The Majorano Ethnographic Museum in Taranto is finally opening its doors to visitors to showcase its invaluable collection of demological, anthropological, and ethnographic heritage gathered by the distinguished Tarantino scholar to whom it is dedicated. It does so within a splendid setting, in the halls of the prestigious and lavish "Pantaleo" Palace, with its extraordinary 18th-century architecture. The archaeological cooperatives POLISVILUPPO and MUSEION, managers of the museum area, and its Director Pierluca Turnone are pleased to announce the reopening of this important cultural attraction, thanks to a partnership agreement with the Municipality of Taranto.
Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings you can join Guided Tours, conducted by qualified guides from the two cooperatives, to discover the new exciting museum setup together. An engaging journey through ancient stories, arts, games, rituals, and traditions of past Taranto.

GUIDED TOUR DEPARTURE:
- Every Saturday at 4:30 PM
- Every Sunday at 11:00 AM

GUIDED TOUR ITINERARY:
- Museum Exhibition
- 18th-century Kitchen
- The Ancient Stables of Palazzo Pantaleo
- Rooms of the Noble Floor

Guided Tour Ticket - € 6.00 per person (includes museum entry and tour service)
For Info and Reservations - Tel. +39 379.2935991 (during opening hours)
Or e-mail: museomajorano@servizicomunetaranto.it

DAYS AND OPENING HOURS TO THE PUBLIC OF THE A. MAJORANO ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM:
From Tuesday to Friday from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Saturday from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM and from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Sunday from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Closed on Monday.

Entrance Ticket to the Museum:
Full: € 4.00
Reduced: € 3.00
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Palazzo Pantaleo-Museo Etnografico 'A. Majorano', located on the second noble floor of Palazzo Pantaleo, is divided into seven fundamental spaces:
A) Alfredo Majorano Nunziato Room;
B) Room of Ceramics;
C) Room of Festive Games, Toys, and Puppets;
D1 and D2) Rooms of Nativity Scenes and Ex-votos;
E) Room of Tarantism;
F) Room of Agricultural Tools;
G) Room of Fishing and the Sea;
H) Room of Processional Ceremonies, Ritual Breads, and Sweets.

The exhibition is completed by I) the 18th-century Kitchen (mezzanine) and J) the Stables of Palazzo Pantaleo (on the ground floor).
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The works are exhibited according to a scientific project initially devised by Prof. Alberto Mario Cirese. Following the transfer of the Majorano collection to Palazzo Pantaleo, the setup was curated by Prof. Antonio Basile, creator of the project and the related report submitted to the Superintendency. The representation of magical-religious rituals in Taranto and its surrounding area unfolds through complementary and interdependent sections, a choice stemming from the particular architectural characteristics of Palazzo Pantaleo, which lends itself to being used for autonomous but interconnected nuclei (also through pre-existing passages between various rooms). Moreover, the Ethnographic Museum falls within a different type of museum compared to those with an artistic and/or archaeological imprint, since the objects exhibited do not constitute individual works or "unique pieces," but testify to the "basic personality" of a territory, attesting to the concrete historical and cultural development of its people. The aim was to avoid the risk of presentism, inherent in a taxonomic "fixed" and timeless representation of specimens, which should instead be interpreted as signs of the actual historical dynamics that led to their creation and use in daily and communal life; thus, the museographic representation leans towards narration rather than description, carefully avoiding abstract generalizations and romantic suggestions.
From a historical-diachronic perspective, the exhibition reconstruction focuses on two typical factors:
the economic and the sacred, as criteria endowed with their own typicity and yet, at the same time, interdependent, conceived in a way to equally involve both the private and public spheres.
Web: www.facebook.com/museomajorano