Museo della Società Operaia di Cascina, Legno e Mestieri
Museum in Cascina on the history of the furniture industry, with carpentry tools, furniture drawings, photographs and works by local artists.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The museum was established by the Società Operaia di Cascina, founded on 31 December 1863 as a mutual aid society, which as early as 1865 also opened its doors to women and promoted popular education. In 1871 it set up a school of professional drawing and modelling to train designers, cabinetmakers and carpenters for the furniture factories that were then emerging; the school later became the Istituto d’Arte.
In Cascina the furniture industry developed around the middle of the 19th century, in an area until then strongly agricultural, also thanks to the arrival of the railway in 1845. The museum holds a historical archive, an iconographic archive of cabinetmaking production from the second half of the 19th century, and the first core of the town’s historical library, declared of historical interest in 1965.
The route is laid out in nine thematic rooms: the historical and travelling library, the area of drawings of historic furniture, a collection of carpentry tools, the collection of the painter Antonella Gamba, rooms of period photographs and video, a space dedicated to the Mostra del Mobile, works by artists from Cascina, and a corner dedicated to the Cooperativa di consumo di Casciavola. Since 2021 the museum has been part of the association Piccoli Musei Italiani, and since 2024 of the Rete dei musei di rilevanza regionale.
Highlights
- Carpentry tools and implements for working wood
- Drawings, carvings, inlays and photographs of Cascina’s furniture industry
- Historical and travelling library of the Società Operaia
- Collection of the painter Antonella Gamba and works by local artists
- Guided visits in Italian and English
Permanent exhibition
- Museo della Società Operaia di Cascina, Legno e Mestieri – Nine rooms on the furniture industry, carpentry, the historical library, photographs and works by local artists.
- Founded
- 1993
- Operated by
- Società Operaia di Cascina
Admission & discounts
Admission is free.
Free admission according to the information sheets; for some guided visits a voluntary donation has been requested.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair accessible: no information
- Elevator: no information
- Accessible restroom: no information
- Accessible parking: no information
- Service dogs welcome: no information
- Tactile models & exhibits: no information
- Sign language tours: no information
- Easy-to-read materials: no information
- Audio description: no information
The museum offers personalised routes and visits for blind and partially sighted people and for people with physical and mental disabilities.
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
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Plan your visit
| Guided tours | yes |
|---|---|
| Good to know | Personalised routes with guides in Italian and English, also designed for children, older people, people with disabilities and students. |
