The Ethnographic Museum 'L Civel"

Casalbetrame
Legend
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How to get

Taxi from  Novara tel. +39 0321 691999 email: radiotaxinovara@libero.it
Car rent from Novara Maggiore Rent Spa +39 0321 391392 - Avis +39 0321 626063
Car: A26 toll motorway, Biandrate exit, continue to Casalbeltrame

About

The ’L Civel museum of farm implements occupies a large courtyard and a harmonious group of rustic buildings. This idyllic rural location, in the village of Casalbeltrame, helps remind visitors of a time gone by when men and women, farmers and farmhands, animals and machines, were all dedicated to working the land.

The museum forms its own microcosm of memory and culture. The ample museum space is surrounded by a total of 5 churches, varying from large to small in size and forming a unique architectural context. (One quick wit described them as matroska doll churches!)

The traditional explanation is that the village was once a centre of Templar worship. The museum visit begins under a large arched portico. The large passage forms a sort of time machine, and houses an extensive series of farming implements. These include ploughs, from the oldest and most rudimentary up to perfectly functional 20th century models, as well as carts and carriages including one referred to in local dialect as ’l çivel – from which the museum derives its name.

As you leave the passage you will hear the song of an old caminant, one of the vagabonds who used to roam from village to village in the Novara area, telling stories, as late as the 1950s.

More details

Booking:
from Monday to Friday

Access:
from September to April
Week end 3.00 pm - 6.00 pm
from May to the first half of July :
Week end 3.00 pm - 7.00 pm
from Thuesday to Friday 9.00 am -1.00 pm

Price:
6€
Reduced: less than 18 years and over 65 years 5 €
Free for Torino+Piemonte card owner