Museo Laboratorio dell'Oro e della Pietra
Community museum of the Bassa Serra Biellese with rooms on gold and goldsmithing, the archaeology of Victimula, historical scales, herbaria and local memory.
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About the museum
The Museo Laboratorio dell’Oro e della Pietra in Salussola grew out of interdisciplinary research carried out over about ten years by the University of Turin in the Bassa Serra Biellese and in the archaeological area of the ancient Victimula, at San Secondo. Today it is run by the association A.V.P.S. (Associazione per la Valorizzazione del Paesaggio e della Bassa Serra Biellese), which presents it not as a display museum but as a laboratory of information, training, research and experimentation.
The museum is housed in a building that once served as the Carabinieri barracks; the “sala della strega” (witch room) occupies a former detention cell. The route is divided into several rooms: the gold room, with the history of the metal and its working techniques (toreutics and casting), and the goldsmith’s workshop where chasing and repoussé are practised; the archaeological room on the valley of San Secondo, centre of the Victimuli; the rooms with the collection of scales and measuring instruments donated by the scale-maker Giancarlo Lacchia; the herbarium room, with seven herbaria including one from 1786; the room dedicated to the massacre of 9 March 1945; and the room on footpaths and dry-stone walls, which is still being completed.
The association also offers courses (for example in watercolour and goldsmithing), lectures and periodic openings, announced on the museum’s website.
Highlights
- Gold room with a chasing and repoussé workshop
- Archaeological room on the San Secondo valley and ancient Victimula
- Collection of scales and measuring instruments of Giancarlo Lacchia
- Herbarium room with seven herbaria, the oldest from 1786
- Witch room in a former cell of the Carabinieri barracks
Permanent exhibitions
- Sale dell'oro: toreutica e fusione – Historical route on gold and its uses, with panels on toreutics and casting techniques and a goldsmith’s workshop.
- Sala archeologica – Finds and an account of the excavations in the San Secondo valley, centre of the Victimuli pagus.
- Collezione di strumenti per pesare Giancarlo Lacchia – Steelyards, counter scales and restored precision instruments, displayed in three rooms on the first floor.
- Operated by
- A.V.P.S. Onlus (Associazione per la Valorizzazione del Paesaggio e della Bassa Serra Biellese)
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
| Good to know | The association organises courses (watercolour, goldsmithing), lectures and demonstrations; the gold workshop is designed for learning working techniques with the help of experts. |
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