Museum of Rural Culture
The Museum of Rural Life is definitely worth a visit with its 2500 items collected by professor emeritus Galassi, giving birth to one of the largest socio-anthropological collections in Umbria; equally important is the Sanctuary of Ghea, dedicated to the Holy Virgin of the Snows, located in the open countryside and built on an ancient Roman settlement. Via F. Venturi, Mr. Luigi Galassi. The Museum of the Rural Life was born thanks to the tenacity and passion of professor emeritus Luigi Galassi, who collected around 1600 items over time and arranged them according to their function and type on three floors of a former school that the Municipality devoted to this purpose, following an agreement signed with Mr. Galassi himself. During the visit at the museum, you can observe objects used by farmers and non-farmers daily. A corner of the room is dedicated to the means of transportation (carriage, carriage drawn by cows, bicycle, sledge), another one accommodates tools used by shepherds (a shepherd umbrella mounted on a structure of reeds, baskets to make the ricotta cheese, the “mystic” olive tree wooden tool to crush the rennet, a club used to plant the poles in the “stazzo”, or sheepfold). Another room preserves objects from various trades (carpenter’s bench, sickle, small sickle, hoes of different sizes, pick, “marraccio” fork, pitchfork, hay cutter, in addition to tools used by blacksmiths, masons, tailors and shoemakers); a different room shows a traditional bedroom including a wrought iron bed – a one and a half bed – with side tables, glazed jugs for water, sink and a piece of furniture for storing clothes; another room represents the traditional rural kitchen, with a large fireplace, the “mattera”, the table for the bread and jugs for water. There is also a cellar filled with traditional barrels, presses, demijohns and all equipment needed by cellar men. Another representation is given by a traditional classroom of the 1950’s with desks and inkpot, benches, old geographic maps, blackboard, educational toys, teacher’s stick and wooden pencil cases. Outside, you can see the tools for working the land such as the plow or “perticaia”, reversible plow, harrow, grubber, grub breaker, seeder, rake and mower. Other objects on display include: a complete sewing frame with all its parts: brake, combs, reel, spinning reel, rake, clamps, warper. In addition to this, old irons and a 1880 “Regina Margherita” sewing machine and a Necchi model of the early 900’s. Visiting hours: temporarily not open to the public (under restoration)