The most bizarre museums
Italy, a country of rich cultural heritage, beautiful monuments and museums to discover and visit. Take for example Duomo of Milan, or Gallery Uffizi in Florence. However, there is also the other side, unusual, a bit bizarre of culture to get familiar with. Close your eyes and come with us in a journey to discover together the most unusual Italian museums.
In the province of Cuneo, in the town of Elva, in the house of Meridiana there is a wig museum. Wig and hair museum preserves instruments, documents, and historical artifacts related to the ancient and singular world of Pelassiers (Guinea pigs in Piedmont), collectors of hair by the end of the XIX century. The museum reconstructs the various stages of the hair manufacture and collects evidence, photos and documents regarding commercial craft.
Italy is famous all over the world for pasta and it makes perfect sense that in a country where food is considered art there is a museum dedicated to the most famous culinary brand. Situated on the square Scanderbeg 117 in Rome, the pasta museum is the only one of its kind in the world. In the pasta museum, opened in 1992, you can learn more about history, pasta production, manufacturing technologies and nutritional information.
If you rest in the Lazio region, you can make a trip to Norma, in Latina province, where you will have extraordinary possibility to visit the Museum of Chocolate. Inside of “Chocolate source”, you’ll meet Maya tools, get some indications on the plantation of cocoa, see packaging and advertising examples of the early twentieth century, visit an old chocolate factory completely rebuilt with original equipment and receive interesting information about working with chocolate in the video room.
In Turin you will find the Museum of fruits with a collection of over a thousand “artificial plastic fruits” modeled at the end of the 19th century by Francesco Garnier Valletti, at once artisan, artis and scientist.
In Naples, the homeland of pizza you can find, inside of Mediterranean Museum of Art, Music and Tradition, the first Italian International Pizza Museum (Museo Internazionale della Pizza - MIP). The museum exposes about 20 historical images donated by the oldest pizzerias of Naples, such as Materdei that during the making of the film The gold of Naples was home of the world’s most famous pizza chef: Sofia Loren. Visitors can admire as wells the tools of pizza makers of the past and present and taste excellent pizza, included in the ticket price and prepared by 300 Neapolitan chefs.
In Abruzzo there is, you will not believe but it is true, a pig museum divided into five sections arranged on three flowers where you can discover the story of the pig in the Italian culture since Roman period to the present day.
In Emilia - Romagna, in the province of Bologna, you can visit the Museum of Tarot cards. Situated in Vergato, it is the first Italian and world center dealing with the Art of Tarot cards at the contemporary level.
If you are a bit superstitious, or simple afraid of witches, go to Sardinia. In Oristano, at the site of the old city hall, you will find Museum of Witches where you can see the Malleus Malleficarum, “The Hammer of Witches, published in 1486 and representing a code that will become the guide in all interrogations for witchcraft.
Have you ever imagined that there was the museum of the bora, for example? The Bora Museum, or stock of the winds, is obviously in Trieste, in Friuli, the city of bora (a typical wind of the region) for excellence. A place not really common where to find out how you measure the wind speed, which are the winds of the Mediterranean, explore the theme of wind power and even play with the wind.
We are ending our virtual visit of unusual museums in Umbria, in Baschi where you can find small and unique in the world museum of Colored Egg. Museo dell’Ovo Pinto collects painted eggs of different animal species created not only by professional artists but as well by amateurs and enthusiasts.
©2014 Emina Ristovic, The Italian Heritage Magazine
In the province of Cuneo, in the town of Elva, in the house of Meridiana there is a wig museum. Wig and hair museum preserves instruments, documents, and historical artifacts related to the ancient and singular world of Pelassiers (Guinea pigs in Piedmont), collectors of hair by the end of the XIX century. The museum reconstructs the various stages of the hair manufacture and collects evidence, photos and documents regarding commercial craft.
Italy is famous all over the world for pasta and it makes perfect sense that in a country where food is considered art there is a museum dedicated to the most famous culinary brand. Situated on the square Scanderbeg 117 in Rome, the pasta museum is the only one of its kind in the world. In the pasta museum, opened in 1992, you can learn more about history, pasta production, manufacturing technologies and nutritional information.
If you rest in the Lazio region, you can make a trip to Norma, in Latina province, where you will have extraordinary possibility to visit the Museum of Chocolate. Inside of “Chocolate source”, you’ll meet Maya tools, get some indications on the plantation of cocoa, see packaging and advertising examples of the early twentieth century, visit an old chocolate factory completely rebuilt with original equipment and receive interesting information about working with chocolate in the video room.
In Turin you will find the Museum of fruits with a collection of over a thousand “artificial plastic fruits” modeled at the end of the 19th century by Francesco Garnier Valletti, at once artisan, artis and scientist.
In Naples, the homeland of pizza you can find, inside of Mediterranean Museum of Art, Music and Tradition, the first Italian International Pizza Museum (Museo Internazionale della Pizza - MIP). The museum exposes about 20 historical images donated by the oldest pizzerias of Naples, such as Materdei that during the making of the film The gold of Naples was home of the world’s most famous pizza chef: Sofia Loren. Visitors can admire as wells the tools of pizza makers of the past and present and taste excellent pizza, included in the ticket price and prepared by 300 Neapolitan chefs.
In Abruzzo there is, you will not believe but it is true, a pig museum divided into five sections arranged on three flowers where you can discover the story of the pig in the Italian culture since Roman period to the present day.
In Emilia - Romagna, in the province of Bologna, you can visit the Museum of Tarot cards. Situated in Vergato, it is the first Italian and world center dealing with the Art of Tarot cards at the contemporary level.
If you are a bit superstitious, or simple afraid of witches, go to Sardinia. In Oristano, at the site of the old city hall, you will find Museum of Witches where you can see the Malleus Malleficarum, “The Hammer of Witches, published in 1486 and representing a code that will become the guide in all interrogations for witchcraft.
Have you ever imagined that there was the museum of the bora, for example? The Bora Museum, or stock of the winds, is obviously in Trieste, in Friuli, the city of bora (a typical wind of the region) for excellence. A place not really common where to find out how you measure the wind speed, which are the winds of the Mediterranean, explore the theme of wind power and even play with the wind.
We are ending our virtual visit of unusual museums in Umbria, in Baschi where you can find small and unique in the world museum of Colored Egg. Museo dell’Ovo Pinto collects painted eggs of different animal species created not only by professional artists but as well by amateurs and enthusiasts.
©2014 Emina Ristovic, The Italian Heritage Magazine