Museo storico e scientifico del tabacco

Museum in the former Consorzio Tabacchicoltori in San Giustino on the cultivation, drying and processing of tobacco and on the work of the tobacco workers (tabacchine).

Opening hoursAdmission €3

Directions

About the museum

The museum is housed in the former Consorzio Tabacchicoltori, near the railway station of San Giustino, in a building commissioned by the municipality at the end of the 19th century, later extended and in use until 1992, when processing moved to the industrial zone. The rooms preserve the structure and atmosphere of the old tobacco-processing warehouses.

It was set up by a foundation created in 1997 by operators of the supply chain, in which other municipalities of the Upper Tiber Valley also take part, and it presents itself as the first Italian museum entirely dedicated to the “golden leaf”. Tobacco cultivation reached this valley at the end of the 16th century, in the territory of the former Republic of Cospaia (1441–1826).

The route includes sections on cultivation, from sowing to harvest; on drying in the traditional torrini (drying kilns), with fermentation, fire-curing and sorting of the leaves; on the manufacture of cigars and snuff; and on research into alternative uses of the plant. One section is devoted to the social history of the tobacco workers, union struggles and the first welfare services for women workers. The museum is also a place for meeting, outreach and research, with exhibitions, courses and debates.

Highlights

Section on tobacco cultivation
Drying in the torrini and care of the leaves
Manufacture of cigars and snuff
Social history and struggles of the tobacco workers
Building of the former Consorzio Tabacchicoltori

Permanent exhibition

Percorso sul tabacco – Sections on cultivation, drying, manufacture and research, plus the social history of the tobacco workers.

Visitors per year: approx. 300