Museo Antica Casa Walser
Walser house museum of the 17th century at Borca di Macugnaga, with over 650 everyday objects, a soapstone stove and a room of traditional crafts.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The museum was founded in 1982 to collect, catalogue and preserve the everyday objects of the Walser of Macugnaga, a community of Alemannic origin that reached the area in the Middle Ages via the Monte Moro pass. It is housed in the parish house of the hamlet of Borca, a 17th-century building that over the centuries has undergone only minor conservation work and is considered one of the best examples of traditional housing in the area. Almost all the finds were donated by the inhabitants of Macugnaga.
The collections comprise over 650 objects dating from the 14th to the 20th century, placed in the rooms for which they were made. In the hearth are the tools for cooking and for turning milk into cheese; in the small room at the former entrance are clothing, books and work tools such as the carbide lamps of the miners. The main room, the “stobu”, is a refined wooden space dominated by the fornetto, a large stove made of soapstone slabs that for centuries was the only heating in the house.
The house has three levels: in the basement, a themed room with reproductions of old prints and photographs, and the periodic exhibitions; on the ground floor, the hearth, the junction room and the stobu; on the upper floor, the room of traditional crafts, the room devoted to bread-making and a room with documents of the Società Mineraria.
Highlights
- 17th-century parish house in Borca, an example of Walser housing
- Over 650 objects from the 14th to the 20th century
- Stobu with soapstone stove
- Hearth with tools for processing milk
- Room of traditional crafts and bread room
- Documents of the Società Mineraria
Permanent exhibition
- La casa walser di Borca e le sue collezioni – Route over three levels of the 17th-century house: hearth, stobu with soapstone stove, crafts room, bread room and documents of the Società Mineraria.
- Founded
- 1982
Admission & discounts
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Accessibility
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Kids & families
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Getting there & parking
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Amenities & dining
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Events & venue rental
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Plan your visit
| Guided tours | yes · approx. 60 min |
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| Good to know | The visit takes about an hour. For a visit outside opening hours telephone +39 347 984 2329 (the custodian will come). The museum's website is available in Italian, English, French and German. |
