Museo etnografico dell’agricoltura

Museum in the town hall of Orsara Bormida on peasant life, emigration to Argentina, the wars and the school of the past.

Opening hours unknown

Directions

About the museum

The museum in Orsara Bormida was founded in the mid-1990s by a group of volunteers, after a first donation of old farming implements by a private individual. Since 1998 it has been run by the association Ursaria Amici del Museo, which also organises exhibitions, concerts and other events.

It is located in the former primary school rooms on the second floor of the town hall. The three rooms tell the story of the village between the 19th and the early 20th century: the first is devoted to emigration to Argentina, to the wars from the Risorgimento (Italian unification) to the First World War, and to the school; the second to the home and rural life around the hearth, with a corner for children; the third to trades, with the tools of the farmer, the carpenter and the blacksmith.

The collections include embroidered linen and trousseaux, wedding dresses, hats, liturgical vestments and missals, toys, photographs and old newspapers. Among the most precious documents is the war diary of a farmer born in 1890 who fell in 1915.

Highlights

War diary of a farmer who fell in 1915
Section on emigration to Argentina
Hand threshing machine from 1803
Traditional kitchen and a corner for children
Tools of the farmer, the carpenter and the blacksmith

Permanent exhibitions

Emigrazione, guerre e scuola – First room with evidence of emigration to Argentina, war relics and furnishings from the former school classroom.
Casa e vita rurale – Second room with the kitchen, the hearth, trousseaux, clothing and a corner for children.
I mestieri – Third room with farm, carpentry and blacksmith tools, including a hand threshing machine from 1803.

Founded: 1996
Operated by: Associazione Ursaria Amici del Museo
Visitors per year: approx. 200