The Regional Museum of Ceramics of Deruta is the oldest Italian museum for ceramics; established in 1898, it preserves over 6000 works.
The itinerary develops from the ground floor to the two upper floors: it is introduced by an educational room and describes, organized in periods, the evolution of Deruta majolica from archaic production to that of the twentieth century. Some thematic areas tell the story of ceramic art, such as the reconstruction of an ancient apothecary, collections presented in their entirety, the section of majolica floors, luster ceramics and that of votive plaques. The contemporary section is mainly made up of works from the Majolica Artist's Multiple and the Deruta Award; the archaeological section , on the other hand, offers a significant overview of the main types of pottery produced in ancient times.
What makes the Deruta Museum unique, moreover, is the presence of a four-storey metal tower communicating on all levels with the convent building: an imposing structure reserved for deposits, full of works preserved in glass shelves, accessible to the public. The tour also includes the archaeological area of the furnaces of San Salvatore; the archaeological investigation of an area adjacent to the museum has brought to light a sequence of structures dating back to the late thirteenth and early eighteenth centuries and has allowed the recovery of a substantial number of ceramic finds.