Museo delle Tradizioni Musicali

About the museum

The idea of a museum in Arsoli was born in 1994 with the initiative “Facciamo insieme il nostro museo” (Let’s make our museum together), which gathered around 600 objects. From 2000 the municipal project “Arsoli Città Museo” (Arsoli Museum Town) aimed to preserve the civil, religious and agricultural traditions of the village, up to a plan for an ecomuseum with several sites. The Museo delle Tradizioni Musicali was the first to be realised and opened in 2006.

The seat is the former Granaio Massimo, on the ground floor of an old palace that belonged to the Massimo family, in the heart of the historic centre, where the staircase of the Salita al Campo, leading up to the castle, starts from Corso Borgo San Bartolomeo. A single large barrel-vaulted room houses four sections: pastoral music, the instruments of artisans, sacred and devotional music, and band tradition.

The collections were built from donations by residents, with instruments, photographs and mementos, and from band instruments donated by the Massimo family. Among the most distinctive pieces are the local zampogna zoppa (a bagpipe), flutes of bark and cane, accordions, tambourines and ritual instruments of the confraternities. Multimedia stations allow visitors to consult an archive of scores, documents, images and audio and video recordings. The museum belongs to the MedAniene and Demos museum systems and is directed by the ethnomusicologist Emiliano Migliorini.

Highlights

• Zampogna zoppa and other pastoral instruments
• Instruments of the crafts: organetto (small accordion), pilaccia, tambourines
• Ritual instruments and material on the pilgrimage to the Santissima Trinità
• Instruments, scores and photographs of the 19th-century bands
• Multimedia archive with computer stations
• Former Granaio Massimo in the historic centre

Founded

2006

Operated by

Comune di Arsoli

Director

Emiliano Migliorini

Visitors per year

approx. 600

Admission & discounts

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Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

The museum is in the heart of the historic centre of Arsoli. By car from Rome along the Via Tiburtina, or by the A24 Rome–L’Aquila motorway, exit Mandela-Vicovaro (then about 15 km) or Carsoli, then the Tiburtina towards Rome.

Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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