Museo della civiltà contadina di Calvisano

Ethnographic museum of Calvisano in the former 15th-century church of San Michele, with agricultural and craft tools, carts, presses and objects of rural life.

Opening hours unknown

Directions

Limited operations. Visits by reservation only.

About the museum

The museum was founded in 1972 by Angelo Faccio, developing out of exhibitions he had already set up in collaboration with the Gruppo Pesa. It was given a home in the former 15th-century church of San Michele, a building of simple Romanesque forms, lent by the Counts Lechi to the Comune di Calvisano. Donations from the Faccio family and private individuals have enlarged the collection over time, which is looked after by volunteers.

The collection, of about a thousand objects coming largely from the Brescia plain, documents rural work and local crafts. It is arranged by sector: agriculture, with carts, gigs, ploughs (the oldest dates from the 17th century) and threshing machines; crafts, with the tools of the blacksmith, the farrier, the knife grinder and the shoemaker; the dairy sector, with cauldrons and moulds for butter and cheese; domestic life; childhood, with dolls, cradles and toys; textiles, with looms and tools for working wool, linen and hemp; and winemaking, with presses and cellar tools.

According to the Ministero della Cultura (Ministry of Culture), visits are by reservation. Information about the venue, a historic building with stability problems, should be checked with the museum before visiting.

Highlights

Collection of about a thousand objects of rural life from the Brescia plain
Farm carts, gigs and ploughs, the oldest dating from the 17th century
Tools of the blacksmith, the farrier, the knife grinder and the shoemaker
Dairy tools and looms for wool, linen and hemp
Presses and tools for winemaking