Ecomuseo delle guide alpine "Antonio Castagneri"
Small museum in the former town hall of Balme on the history of a village of smugglers turned mountain guides, with period photographs, equipment and an ethnographic collection.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The Ecomuseo delle Guide Alpine “Antonio Castagneri” in Balme, in the upper Val d’Ala, is housed in the village’s former town hall. It documents how a small community on the border between Piedmont and Savoy, with winters of eight months and fewer than a hundred inhabitants, became one of the centres of Turin mountaineering in the 19th century.
The introductory section tells the story of the settlement: its founding by shepherds from Savoy, medieval immigration from the Bergamo area and from the Valsesia, the smuggling that replaced the exhausted mines (which residents prefer to call transalpine trade), the transformation of the smugglers into mountain guides and, finally, the present-day activities: tourism, crafts, livestock farming and the bottled mineral water industry.
The core of the museum is a collection of large-format period photographs of the outstanding figures of local mountaineering, accompanied by equipment, relics, posters and documents. Sections on the environment (flora, fauna, minerals) and Franco-Provençal culture, an ethnographic collection and a historical-naturalistic itinerary in the village complete the route. A section on the participation of mountain people in the wars and the Resistance has also recently been opened.
Highlights
- Large-format period photographs of Balme’s guides
- Mountaineering equipment, relics and posters
- History of smuggling and the pioneers of skiing
- Franco-Provençal ethnographic collection
- Historical-naturalistic itinerary in the village
Permanent exhibitions
- Collezione Guide Alpine – Period photographs, equipment, relics, posters and documents on the mountain guides of Balme and on Turin mountaineering.
- Collezione etnografica – Objects of everyday life and of the Franco-Provençal culture of the Balme community.
- Operated by
- Comune di Balme
- Visitors per year
- approx. 319
Admission & discounts
| Adults | €2 |
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Full-price ticket €2 according to Abbonamento Musei; the ecomuseum’s website does not list prices.
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 is in the former town hall of Balme, in Via Capoluogo.
Get directionsAmenities & dining
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Plan your visit
| Good to know | The site offers a detailed presentation of the collection in Italian, English, French and German. |
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