Here you can find a list of museums in the Langhe and Roero, such as Barolo Wi.Mu, or the Museum of Rocks and the Natural Park of the Roero and the Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions of Magliano Alfieri.
ALBA - Museo Civico Archeologico e di scienze naturali
Via Vittorio Emanuele, 19 Alba
Telefono: +39.0173.290092 Fax: +39.0173.362075
The Museo Archeologico e di Scienze Naturali (Archaeology and Natural Science Museum) in Alba, has been completely renovated, and was reopened to the public in Autumn 2001. The museum was established at the end of the eighteen hundreds as a repository of archaeological finds, and has increased its collections to become an important point of reference for experts in the field. Through these collections, in fact, one can not only go back to the cultural origins and history of this area, but can also deduce from them the evolution and adaptability of a community that has managed to renew and improve itself over the years. The museum is organized into display rooms divided into geological and paleontological sections, and zoological and botanical sections. The archaeological section houses 2000 finds from the Neolithic and Roman period of Alba Pompeia. Thanks to the new layout, visitors can admire an important collection unearthed during the excavations of the past 25 years.
WI.MU. – Wine Museum
Castello Comunale Falletti di Barolo
Tel. +39.0173.386697 – www.wimubarolo.it
It was the natural choice to host Italy’s most innovative wine museum here, amid the immaculate hillside vineyards where one of the world’s most famous wines has been produced for more than two centuries.
The landscape in this area represents a perfect equilibrium between nature’s riches and intelligent human input.
WiMu is a journey through the culture and traditions of wine designed by François Confino, the architect who created the National Cinema Museum in Turin’s Mole Antonelliana.
The tour begins on the top floor, heading down through darkness and light, sound and colour, above and below this miraculous soil. Wine in history and art, food and films, music and literature, as well as universal legends and local traditions.
WiMu is also a tribute to the history of the castle and the illustrious figures that have lived here, such as Marquise Juliette Colbert, better known in Italy as Giulia di Barolo. And the patriot Silvio Pellico, one of the leading figures of the Italian Risorgimento, was the castle librarian: his room/study has been preserved intact.
After exploring these evocations and narrations of wine, it is time to experience and sample it. So it’s down to the Wine Tourist’s Temple to indulge in the sensory pleasures of the wine world. Here visitors can encounter Barolo and the other great wines of Piedmont, tasting them alone or with expert guidance. The tour satisfyingly ends in the Barolo Regional Wine Centre, in the time-honoured cellars of the Marquises who gave their name to this legendary wine. In this spectacular show of outstanding wines and memorable vintages visitors can choose the bottles they want to take home.
BRA - Museo Civico di Storia Naturale
Via Craveri 15
Tel.: 0172-412010 Fax: 0172-415079
This museum was initially a private collection of the Craveri family, was later donated to the Town of Bra and is one of the richest and most interesting natural science Museums of the area. The collections comprise objects gathered by Federico Craveri during his journeys; Craveri was one of the first people from Piedmont to travel across the American Continent on horseback in the mid-eighteen hundreds. The Museum houses, among the many curiosities: an extremely rich ornithological section with an important collection of hummingbirds; a small collection that illustrates Tener during prehistoric times; a small meteorology room that was used by Federico Craveri himself for the first atmospheric surveys. Over the years, objects that show the natural history of Piedmont have enriched the museum.
BRA - Quasi per gioco, Esposizione permanente di giocattoli d'epoca
Via Mendicità Istruita, 47
Tel: 0172.426035 - Fax: 0172.44884
“Quasi per gioco” (Almost for fun) is a collection created by a private collector, and includes different makes of toys made between the XVIII and XX century: handcrafted, industrial and homemade. This collection comprises around a thousand pieces, including comic strips and old photographs, as well as two sections devoted to dolls and tin toys that are particularly vast and interesting.
BRA - Museo Civico di Archeologia, storia, Arte - Palazzo Traversa
Via Parpera, 4 Bra
Tel: +39.0172-423880 - Fax: 0172-430184(5)
Set up inside Palazzo Traversa, which was built in the 15th century, this museum presents archaeological findings from the Roman and Etruscan eras. In 1991 the archaeological section was opened with findings from the Roman city of Pollentia, now Pollenzo. More recently it has opened an artistic-historical section where visitors can admire paintings dating from the 1600s to the 1900s as well as some works of 20th-century sculpture.
CHERASCO - Museo Civico Giovan Battista Adriani
Via dell'Ospedale, 40
Tel: 0172-489101 - Fax: 0172-489674
This museum is housed in the 17th century Palazzo Gotti di Salerano. Inside you can see archaeological material, including Cheraschese stone tablets and a collection of papal, ecclesiastical and secular seals. In the other rooms are exhibits of oil paintings and prints that date back to the period between the 1600s and 1800s as well as a collection of medals. Moreover, you can admire pieces of furniture, prints, drawings and an exhibition of a small portion of the largest stamp collection in southern Piemonte.
CLAVESANA - Museo Storico Etnografico
Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, 7
Tel: 0173.790103 - Fax: 0173.790389
Situated in a lordly 18th-century manor, this museum offers visitors a wide-ranging view, through images and objects of outstanding historical value, of the peasant life of the past on the Langhe hills. Visitors can admire images and documents of historical Clavesanese personages, among whom "La Ballerina" (The Dancer) a woman who lived between the 19th and 20th centuries, a protagonist in Cairo in the first version of Aida by Giuseppe Verdi, whose extraordinary beauty enchanted the royalty of the courts of Egypt and the Savoy family. The tour continues with objects relative to local activities, such as hunting, fishing and truffle-gathering, and ends with on exhibit of all of the coats of arms of the Communes belonging to the "Marchesato dei Clavesana" in the era of its maximum territorial extension (12th -13th centuries), when its borders reached the present-day French Riviera.
CORTEMILIA - Ecomuseo dei Terrazzamenti e della Vite
Piazza Oscar Molinari
Tel: 0173.81027 - Fax:0173.81154
The Ecomuseo dei Terrazzamenti e della Vite (Eco Museum of Terracings and Vineyards) was set up for the purpose of contributing to the recognition of terraced landscapes as monumental works originating from the labour, skill and patience of men, telling the history, traditions and lifestyles of societies that built them yesteryear and still conserve them today. The beauty of the terraced landscapes therefore has considerable intellectual, social and environmental value: it contains the history of the community that exceeded in finding a way to survive by using the elements at hand in the best way possible. It is a testimony of the rural world and its millenary culture.
DOGLIANI - Museo Storico Archeologico 'Giuseppe Gabetti'
Piazza S. Paolo, 10 – Tel 0173.70107 - Fax: 0173.721405
This Archaeological Museum, which is situated on the first floor of the Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall), was created in 1976 following the unearthing of two Roman graves. It houses a vast collection of fossils from the Langhe area, as well as several finds that date back to the Neolithic and to the Bronze Age, which include Roman funerary objects and epigraphs unearthed in Dogliani and in neighbouring towns. Here visitors will also see finds dating back to the Middle Ages, including: capitals, stone sculptures, epigraphs and documents concerning local affairs. Frescoes, prints and historical documents dating back to the fifteen hundreds and to the following centuries are also on display here, as well as a local historical archive that comprises parchments, manuscripts, books, prints and collections of old photographs. The objects are exhibited in chronological order and according to the areas where they are exhibited.
GRINZANE CAVOUR - Museo dell'enoteca regionale
Via Castello, 5
Telefono: +39.0173.262159
The castle of Grinzane Cavour, built in the first half of the 11th century and expanded during the 13th and 14th centuries, was the home of Camillo Benso di Cavour from 1832 – 1849. Its interior is now the home of the new Museo delle Langhe and the Enoteca Regionale Piemontese Cavour (Regional Wine Cellar). The ethnographic museum features an exhibit of domestic and work ambiances from the 17th to 20th centuries. There is also a hall dedicated to the great statesman from the Piemonte region that displays his bedroom, some memorabilia (among which his mayor’s sash and an autographed municipal bylaw), illustrative panels and a film about his specific activity as a wine entrepreneur on the castle’s estate.
GUARENE - Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo per l'Arte
Piazza del Municipio
Tel: 011.19831600 - Fax: 011.549225
The Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation) supports and promotes contemporary art and young artists. The XVIII century building that stands in piazza del Municipio (Town Hall square) has now become one of the premises of the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation) following painstaking restoration works, which enabled the creation of a 3.000 square metres exhibition area that will be used for the activities of this Foundation. Modern materials, such as concrete and galvanized iron, have been combined with the original characteristics of this noble building, which inner rooms still preserve the original finely decorated vaults. Here are housed contemporary art exhibitions promoted by the Foundation, and are also held book launchings, film screenings, forums, conferences and educational workshops.
LA MORRA - Museo Ratti dei Vini d'Alba
Fraz. Annunziata Presso l'Abbazia dell'Annunziata, 2 La Morra
Telefono: +39.0173.50185 - Fax: 0173.509373
This museum was created in 1971 by Renato Ratti, to exalt the great wine growing and producing tradition of the Alba area, as well as the excellent quality of the wines produced here. Vineyards and wines ‘relate’ their history through a collection of objects and documents. A great many interesting objects are on display here: old containers, sets of bottles, ‘calcaturaccioli’ (corking machines), measuring instruments, wooden ploughs, screw presses with wooden screws and female threads, as well as a remarkable series of documents (council statutes, farm announcements for the grape harvest, regulations concerning the transportation and sale of wine and ordinances) and historical and technical information regarding the places of origin of the wines from the Alba area.
MAGLIANO ALFIERI - Museo di Arti e Tradizioni Popolari
Via Alfieri 6
Tel: 0173.66311 Fax: 0173.66574
This museum is located on the first floor of the castle. Here we find some rare plaster ceilings, which are evidence of a building technique that is very unusual but was widespread among farmers in some towns of the Roero, Astigiano and Ovadese areas. In the Alba and Basso Monferrato (Lower Monferrato) areas there used to be several chalk pits and, between the XVII and the XIX century, this material was widely used to decorate vaults, fireplaces, floors, jambs and lintels, because it was much cheaper than wood. Around a hundred decorations, as well as a description of the diverse uses of plaster in local building customs, are exhibited in the rooms of the museums.
MANGO - Casa delle Memorie
Piazza Salvatore Cane 2, Fraz. S. Donato
Tel: 0173.677631 - 338.1761673 Fax: 0173.678933
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - www.arvangia.com
This museum, which is located inside the former presbytery of the town, houses a collection of objects and documents connected with the recent past of this area, which are grouped thematically inside three rooms: the Resistance, rural schools during the fascist period and emigration. Two ethnographic rooms, which house a reconstruction of an early XX century kitchen and bedroom, complete the exhibition. Temporary exhibitions are held inside a dedicated area of the museum, which has been significantly named “Nido dell’artista” (Artist’s nest) since it is chiefly addressed to young artists.
MOMBARCARO - Museo Storico Militare
Piazza Liberta', 1 – Tel. 0174.97019
Although this museum was created with the purpose of preserving traditional everyday objects and working tools of the people of the Langa territory, it also houses numerous military mementoes, which include uniforms, helmets and decorations. The core of the museum comprises everyday artefacts, such as: the coffee-roaster and the bottling-machine, as well as farm and winemaking tools.
PRUNETTO - Museo del Mulo
Borgata Castello
Tel: 0174.99113 - Fax: 0174.99051
This museum was named after the cultural Association that runs it, and is housed in some of the rooms of the medieval castle. Here we find everyday and farm objects and tools, as well as a reconstruction of several rooms and workshops, including: a cobbler’s workshop, a carpenter’s workshop and a knife sharpener’s workshop.
SANTO STEFANO BELBO - Casa Natale Cesare Pavese
Piazza Confraternita
Tel: 0141-840990 - Fax: 0141-844942
The birthplace of writer Cesare Pavese is equipped with a conference hall and houses numerous objects related to his life and works: photographs of his favourite places and of himself, a collection of his works in Italian and in various other languages, as well as a selection of dissertations on Cesare Pavese. Visitors will also have the opportunity to see a collection of the original objects of his house, as well as farm and farrier’s tools.
SANTO STEFANO BELBO - Casa Museo di Nuto
Località Piana
Tel: 0141.843730 Fax: 0141.844649
This house-museum can be visited at any time of day or night, thanks to an electronic device that switches on the lights when needed. This museum houses several objects that belonged to Nuto Revelli, including books, carpenter’s tools, photographs and utensils. Here we can also see a collection of musical instruments including violins, guitars and a double bass.
VEZZA D’ALBA - Museo Naturalistico del Roero
Via Fissore, 1
Tel: 0173.65022 - 0173.65606 - Fax: 0173.65606
This museum is divided into two rooms that are devoted to geology and the environment respectively. In the first room are housed examples of the stratigraphy of the Roero area with fossils dating back to every geological era. In the second room, however, we can see showcases that house a diorama replica of the habitat of some fauna specimens and the related animals.
