Collezione tessile di Tela umbra
Textile museum on the second floor of Palazzo Alberti Tomassini, with looms, yarns, lace and the history of the workshop founded in 1908.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The Tela Umbra workshop was founded on 1 May 1908 on the initiative of Baron Leopoldo Franchetti and his wife, the American Baroness Alice Hallgarten. Alice, struck by the poverty and cultural backwardness of the sharecroppers’ families on the estates around Città di Castello, devised a project of training, production and sale that enhanced the skill of women at the hand loom without abandoning rural craft traditions.
The textile collection is displayed on the second floor of the ancient Palazzo Alberti Tomassini, formerly Bourbon del Monte, in the historic centre of Città di Castello. The route of nine rooms presents fine fabrics, yarns, period looms, lace, trimmings and the weaving tools that illustrate the different processes of the workshop. In the display cases there is also furniture from the Franchetti barons’ villa at La Montesca.
A space recreates a typical classroom of the rural elementary schools founded by the barons at La Montesca and at Rovigliano, with old desks, inkwells and teaching equipment: it recalls the encounter with the educational method of Maria Montessori, who was hosted by the Franchettis in 1909. The visit also includes the textile workshop on the first floor, where handmade items in pure Flemish and Irish linen are still produced on late 19th-century hand looms, with original designs from the medieval and Renaissance periods.
Highlights
- Route of nine rooms with fabrics, yarns, lace and period looms
- Active textile workshop with late 19th-century hand looms
- Reconstruction of a rural classroom linked to the Montessori method
- Furnishings from the Franchetti barons’ villa at La Montesca
- Palazzo Alberti Tomassini, formerly Bourbon del Monte
- Operated by
- Tela Umbra Soc. Coop. a r.l.
- Visitors per year
- approx. 2,000
Admission & discounts
| Adults | €4 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | €2.50People over 60, groups of at least 15 people, children aged 6 to 14 |
| Children & teens | €2.50free up to age 5 · Reduced rate for children aged 6 to 14; free admission under 6. |
| Seniors | €2.50Over 60. |
| Groups (15+ people) | €2.50 per personGroups of at least 15 people. |
| Reduced A (visitors from other museums) | €3 |
Tickets can be booked online via the MUA portal. For schools, institutions and educational visits, the admission price is agreed with the management.
Accessibility
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Kids & families
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Getting there & parking
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Amenities & dining
- Museum shop
- Wi-Fi
Free Wi-Fi and bookshop, according to the Alto Tevere museums portal.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Plan your visit
| Guided tours | yes |
|---|---|
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | Guided visits, including for schools, by booking through the MUA portal (Musei Umbria Altotevere). |
