Palazzo Massi represents well the quality of the latest expansion of the urban center "intra moenia", that is within the walls of the town. Remarkable are the rusticated decorations of the windows and the monumental entrance portal, indicating the construction period of the complex around the 16th century. It now houses the Museo delle Bilance in its rooms.
The Museo delle Bilance is a place where art meets technology. It was born thanks to the passion of Velio Ortolani, an extraordinary collector who has made available part of his unusual and substantial collection of scales and weights, one of the most important in Europe in terms of typology, chronology, and number of pieces. The museum's rooms contain 160 objects of different types that allow us to retrace over 600 years of the history of scales, starting from some small Renaissance-era steelyards made from a sword to the large industrial scales of the last century.
Some scales evoke tender childhood memories, such as children's weighing scales or household equal-arm scales. Others surprise with their extraordinary beauty, attention to detail, and sophistication of decoration. The museum not only exhibits the objects and narrates their technical evolution over the centuries but also returns the scales to their function, becoming a unique starting point for a different way of "making" history.
Open only by reservation for groups (starting from 15 people) who request it via email with at least one week's notice.The visit typically lasts about 20 minutes.