VARALLO ART GALLERY 

Varallo Art Gallery

Founded at the end of the nineteenth century, in Varallo, by two societies (The Society for the Encouragement of the Study of Graphic Arts, and The Society for the Conservation of Artworks and Monuments in Valsesia), it is based in the Museum Palace of Varallo. The Art Gallery preserves examples of Piedmont and Sesia valley painting from the 15th to the 20th centuries, with particular attention to the artists who carried out their work in close connection and in continuous dialogue with the artistic experiences that developed at the Sacred Mount. The current exhibition includes a large group of sculptures from the Sacred Mount and from the churches of the valley, plus paintings by Gaudenzio Ferrari and his students, including Bernardino Lanino.
Information:
Palace of the Museums - https://www.pinacotecadivarallo.it/
Via Pio Franzani 2 - 13019 Varallo (VC) Telephone: 0163.51424 Fax: 0163.564354
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PIETRO CALDERINI MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY – VARALLO

Museo Calderini Varallo

Located on the second floor of the Palace of Museums in Varallo, the Pietro Calderini Museum of Natural History was opened in 1867 and in a relatively short time the collections grew and were enriched by donations  coming not only from Valsesia but also from outside, so much so that all branches of science and natural history were represented.
Collections about human activities were soon added to those about natural history: these included archaeological, ethnographic, numismatic, arms and autograph sections.
The museum was previously located on the first floor but since the 1960s it has been on the second floor of the Palazzo dei Musei. The natural history section was updated in June 2017, which while it valued the original nineteenth-century structure also included a specially-made route for new generations of visitors.
The archaeological and ethnographic sections will also be integrated into the new museum tour in the years to come.
Information:
Palazzo dei Musei - https://www.pinacotecadivarallo.it/
Via Pio Franzani 2 - 13019 Varallo (VC)
Telefono: 0163.51424 Fax: 0163.564354
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CARLO CONTI ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND PALEONTOLOGICAL  MUSEUM - BORGOSESIA

The Museum is dedicated to the sculptor and Honorary Inspector of the Antiquity Authority, Carlo Conti, who in 1931, with his work "Valsesia Archeologica", already prefigured an actual archaeological museum of the valley. Despite the archaeological excavations and studies at Mount Fenera, where the important Ciutarun and Ciota Ciara caves are located, the museum was only opened in 2007, restarting dissemination of this knowledge and a resumption of research activities at Mount Fenera and in the valley, in close relationship with both the Authority for the Cultural Heritage of Piedmont and universities, in particular those of Ferrara and Geneva.
The exhibition allows visitors to learn about the abundant collection of fossils of the Pleistocene fauna from the caves of Fenera, and the exceptional bones and material traces of the Neanderthals’ presence that are unique in Piedmont.  For this reason the Museum of Borgosesia is an important place for information about the Paleolithic in Piedmont. The first Iron Age population concentration began in what is now Borgosesia, with the inhabited areas in the Hospital zone and the first tombs in the western part of the city, controlling the access to the important mineral resources of the upper valley. In the second Iron Age some female  grave goods show the first Insubric and then Valaisan characterization of the population of the ancient "Seso" up to the progressive administrative assimilation into the Roman world. The tombs of Via N. Sottile, the remains of the settlement and the engravings are good examples of the community of Seso in Roman times, located along a primary route that connected Ivrea to Domodossola and to Locarno. The museum itinerary includes the findings of the probable sacred areas of the pre-Roman and Roman center of Borgosesia, and the medieval evidence from the surrounding areas.
To complete the exhibition, in 2012, a permanent exhibition of geological interest was added, linked to the existence of a "supervolcano", recognized in 2009 by the scientific world after the publications of its discoverers, Sinigoi and Quick, geologists of the Universities of Trieste and Dallas, who had been studying Valsesia for over thirty years.
Information:
Via Combattenti, 13011 Borgosesia (VC) - Tel. 0163 22205
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Hours:
Tuesday and Thursday 10.00-12.30 and 14.00-17.30
Saturday  15.00-18.00
Free entry

HISTORICAL ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM OF LOW VALSESIA

This museum is located in the eastern wing of the neoclassical Villa Caccia in Romagnano Sesia. This prominent structure of the architect Antonelli, once the center of the wine-producing  activity and of the "Premiata Fattoria Vinicola dei conti Caccia", now contains a journey through the history, traditions and material culture of Romagnano Sesia and the surrounding territory.
Information:
Romagnano Sesia (NO), Viale Antonelli 3 Tel: 0163 827237 - 347 5391441 - 393 2776391 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.museostoricoromagnano.it

MUSEUM OF THE LANDSCAPE OF VERBANIA

The Landscape Museum of Verbania holds the most important collections of pictorial and sculptural art of the territory. It was founded by Antonio Massara, in 1909, with the aim of enhancing the beauty of the Verbano landscape through art: in fact the name, at its foundation, was “The Artistic Historical Museum of the Verbano and the adjacent Valleys”. Currently the Museum is a complex divided into three locations: Palazzo Viani Dugnani and Palazzo Biumi Innocenti, in Pallanza, together with Casa Ceretti in Intra. Fifteen halls of Palazzo Viani Dugnani, a Baroque palace dating back to the years between 1600 and 1700, are devoted to the painting section; here, in a very rich artistic itinerary, works by the most important local artists are collected, including Daniele Ranzoni, Achille Tominetti, Carlo Fornara and Mario Tozzi. The section dedicated to sculpture hosts works by internationally known artists, such as Arturo Martini and Paolo Troubetzkoy.
The archaeological section includes grave goods from Ornavasso, which forms the most important nucleus of the section, as well as material that testifies to Celtic and Roman influences, a collection of objects of Magna Graecia and other objects of Roman and Etruscan origin.
At Palazzo Biumi-Innocenti, one of the oldest buildings in the city of Verbania, there is a section dedicated to popular religiosity: here are collected ex-voto offerings made between the sixteenth and twentieth century and holy pictures from all regions of Italy and the world. Since 1995 the museum offers educational activities thanks to volunteer teachers and artists; the activities are both for adults and also for children, with worksheets  and hands-on sessions.The main exhibition of the Museum is in Palazzo Viani Dugnani, in Verbania Pallanza, which hosts the Troubetzkoy plaster cast collection, the sculpture collection, the picture gallery and temporary exhibitions.
Information:
Address: Via Ruga, 44 - Verbania Pallanza - tel. 0323 502254
Hours:
Tuesday to Friday: from 10.00 to 18.00
Saturday and Sunday and public holidays: from 10.00 to 19.00
www.museodelpaesaggio.it
The Casa Elide Ceretti exhibition center in Verbania Intra is the new cultural center for the Museum and for the City of Verbania; it which hosts various activities and open on special occasions
The Archeology collection is hosted in the detached branch of Ornavasso; part is exhibited at the Town Hall building in Via Sergio Jonghi n. 3 and can be visited by appointment (tel: 0323 838300)

ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF SOAPSTONE

The Archaeological Museum of Soapstone, of Val Grande National Park, is located in the Praetorian Palace in Malesco, and is part of the Ecomuseum of soapstone and stoneworkers. Inside the museum the history of the use of soapstone is developed in an exhibition that combines various aspects: archaeological, ethnographical and geological. The museum is rich in finds that, since prehistoric times, document the progressive ability of humans to use natural resources. The exploitation of soapstone was fundamental and became the fulcrum of the flourishing economy of the territory; the stone artifacts and a considerable number of valuable and imported objects underline the active role of the Valley in the ancient commercial circuits. The exhibited objects testify how this material was worked to obtain different artifacts, being used in the most varied way, from small everyday objects to architectural elements. From autumn 2013there has also been a geological section where the stages of “the stones that became history” are shown: soapstone, marble and carbonate rocks are dealt with in their total environmental relationship, from geological history to use.
Information: http://www.parcovalgrande.it/pagina.php?id=53

"M. BERTOLANI" GEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

The village of Sambughetto, in the Strona valley, hosts the Naturalistic Museum, a point of interest of the Ecomuseum of Lake Orta and Mottarone, which includes a geological section named in honour of Professor Mario Bertolani, of the University of Modena, who has studied the rich geological heritage of the Strona valley. The aim of the museum is to show the public the geological variety of the area, enriched with numerous fossil remains and the presence of karstic cavities, a rather unusual phenomenon in north-eastern Piedmont. A visit to the museum provides information on the minerals and rocks of the valley, on the quarries and on the mines, complete with information related to the caves and the legends that their presence has nourished.
Information:  pietredelcusio.weebly.com/museo-geologico-m-bertolani.html

Sesia Val Grande Geopark

Headquarters: Villa Biraghi - Piazza Pretorio 6, 28805 Vogogna VB Italy
Office: Corso Roma 33, 13019 Varallo VC Italy

Tel. +39.0324.87540
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Ecomuseums are institutions that deal with studying, protecting and making known the global collective memory of a geographically bounded community and its historical and current relationship with the environmental resources of the territory.
An ecomuseum is characterized by a deep link with the territory, by the knowledge of the relationships that connects humans to the environment in which they live. Ecomuseums are not museums as we usually understand the term, so they are not enclosed places where objects and finds are placed: they also represent a lifestyle, the economy, work, art and culture that are enmeshed in the relationships between a people and its territory.

ECOMUSEUM OF THE SESIA VALLEY

It was established in 1999 to enhance and protect the historical memory and traditions of the Sesia valley’s material culture, emphasizing the close link between human history and landscape evolution.
The Ecomuseum is divided into:

Ecomuseum of the Walser territory and culture

Ecomuseum of the Walser territory and culture

It includes the villages of Alagna, Riva Valdobbia, Mollia, Rassa, Campertogno, Carcoforo, Rimasco, Rima and Rimella, which bear witness to the history of the Walser people who colonized the upper parts of the valley in the 13th century.
Informatio:http://www.atlvalsesiavercelli.it/ecomuseo_territorio_e_cultura_walser_ing.php

Ecomuseum of the lower Sesia valley "Colli di Seso"

Ecomuseum of the lower Sesia valley "Colli di Seso"

It is based in Valduggia and includes the villages of Valduggia, Cellio and Breia. In this context the rural culture is important  with its testimonies, its wealth of art and culture that must be considered and enhanced. Information: http://www.atlvalsesiavercelli.it/ecomuseo_bassa_valsesia_ing.php

ECOMUSEUM OF BIELLESE

Ecomuseum of biellese

The Ecomuseum of Biellese was established by the Piedmont Region on 1 March 2000. It is made up of multiple realities (natural areas, museums, cultural institutions ...) that bear witness to the transformation of the Biella territory, whose history is characterized by the transition from the rural and artisanal economy to one of industrial textiles. It consists of 15 ecomuseum sites and several local cultural institutions; four of these are included in the geopark:

Fabbrica della ruota (Wheel factory) – Pray
An ancient farm that represents one of the best known examples of industrial archeology in Italy
http://cultura.biella.it/on-line/Welcomepage/EcomuseodelBiellese/Celluleeistituzioni/FabbricadellaRuota-Pray.html

Museum-laboratory of the Mortigliengo - Mezzana Mortigliengo
Museum of the rural economy of the territory
http://cultura.biella.it/on-line/Welcomepage/EcomuseodelBiellese/Celluleeistituzioni/MuseoLaboratoriodelMortigliengo-MezzanaMortigliengo.html

The former mill at Susta-Soprana
An ancient mill, one of the few water-based relics to be found in this area
http://cultura.biella.it/on-line/Welcomepage/EcomuseodelBiellese/Celluleeistituzioni/ExMulinoSusta-Soprana.html

Oasi Zegna – Trivero
A private project of protection and enhancement of the mountain territory created and funded by the Ermenegildo Zegna Group
http://cultura.biella.it/on-line/Welcomepage/EcomuseodelBiellese/Celluleeistituzioni/OasiZegna-ValdilanaLoc.Trivero.html

As described on the Ecomuseum website "the ecomuseum cells work for the conservation of documentary heritages, finds, technical practices and socio-cultural models that are at risk of disappearance; they integrate into the Ecomuseum reinterpreting and updating the tradition, with the aim of involving the inhabitants and fostering sustainable local development. Collections of tools and equipment find  a place in historic buildings; marked thematic itineraries lead to the discovery of representative places of the communities and return the life and working cycle of the products of the earth and industry. Cultural institutions participate in this project by making available their documentary heritage and their skills.”

Information:
http://cultura.biella.it/on-line/Welcomepage/EcomuseodelBiellese.html  
Ecomuseum of Biella, in the Province of Biella - Department of Culture
Via Quintino Sella 12 - 13900 Biella - tel. 015 8480899 - fax 015 8480740 E-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ECOMUSEUM OF SOAPSTONE AND STONEWORKERS

Ecomuseo Malesco

The ecomuseum of soapstone and stoneworkers (Ecomuseum of leuzerie and scherpelit in the Malesco dialect) was established by the Piedmont Region on 27 March 2007. The ecomuseum itinerary has been developed in the historical centers of Malesco, Finero and Zornasco and reaches the Alpe Straolgio. The Municipality of Malesco has always been linked to stone and to the activities of stoneworkers. Even the surrounding landscape is dominated by the presence of this element, just think of the glacial potholes carved in the rock of the Loana Waterfall (Cascata della Loana), or the deposits of soapstone and marble. Ancient mountain pastures and places of worship testify to the connection that humans have had for a long time with stone and which has been documented since prehistoric times by cupels dug into boulders. Even in architecture, stone is the dominant material used, from walls of houses to roofs, from balconies to eaves.
The whole area is historically linked to the use, in particular, of soapstone: it is an easily workable and exceptionally heat-resistant material, so much so that it becomes fundamental for the production of fireplaces, stoves and typical stone pans, but also for the manufacture of architectural elements.
Among the numerous places that make up the ecomuseum it is worth mentioning the Val Grande National Park Museum, dedicated to soapstone and its many uses. Also interesting are the ancient mill known as Mulin dul Tac and the Historical Wash House.

Information: https://ecomuseomalesco.it/en/

ECOMUSEUM OF THE GRANITE OF MONTORFANO

Ecomuseum Montorfano

The ecomuseum of granite involves the territory of Mergozzo and its surroundings, where the shape of Montorfano stands out. In this solitary massif made of white granite, quarrying activities that have been carried out for at least four centuries are evident: the rock is particularly good and compact, suitable for use. The Montorfano massif is part of the so-called "Graniti dei Laghi", formed between approximately 295 and 282 million years ago, in the Permian age.
One of the most beautiful testimonies of the use of this material are the fortifications of the "Cadorna Line" but the presence of humans in this area is known from the Stone Age: some findings dating back to this period are preserved in the Civic Archaeological Museum. Visiting the territory of the Ecomuseum makes it possible to understand how human life has been deeply conditioned by the resources of the territory and how over time, in turn, human have modified it with their activities.
Among the various points of interest, one of the most striking is the village of San Giovanni, built according to the traditional building methods and surrounded by cultivated terraces. Here the church of the same name represents a beautiful testimony to the local Romanesque style.
From: www.ecomuseogranitomontorfano.it