Montorfano Granite Ecomuseum and Mu.Ma.G. Museum of Pink Marble and Granite

The Granite Ecomuseum covers the entire Mergozzo area and its surroundings, including the quarries where Candoglia pink marble and the white granite of Montorfano, the green granite of Mergozzo and the pink granite of Baveno are extracted. It is an extraordinary open-air museum where visitors can observe the work of today’s stonecutters, the traces of ancient craftsmanship in disused quarries, and the countless uses of local stone in traditional architecture, terraced fields, and both ancient and modern monuments.

The Mu.Ma.G. Museum of Pink Marble and Granite is situated in Albo di Mergozzo, in the municipally-owned building that housed the hamlet’s nursery school from 1929 to 1984. The restoration of the building and the exhibition design, planned by the Val Grande National Park, with a significant contribution of materials and documents collected by the Mergozzo Archaeological Group, and with the loan of marble artefacts from the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano, aims to preserve and promote knowledge of these fine materials, their craftsmanship and the journey – the very theme of the exhibition rooms – that these stones have undertaken and continue to undertake to Milan and other destinations around the world.

The exhibition space, which has been refurbished and fitted out thanks to funding granted to the Val Grande National Park by the Interreg Mulm Programme, supplemented by significant resources from the Municipality of Mergozzo, spans two rooms on the ground floor of the building and offers visitors the chance to follow the journey of marble and granite – both physically, from the famous Cava Madre quarry in Candoglia along the waterway leading to Milan, and in terms of its transformation, through the various processes that have made it so highly prized.

There is also a section dedicated to the artistic uses of marble and granite, featuring works that the Danish artist Eva Sørensen (Herning, Denmark, 1940 – Verbania, 2019) has donated to the Municipality of Mergozzo, alongside a small, exquisite sculpture in pink marble loaned by the family of Giovan Battista Tedeschi (Albo di Mergozzo, 1883 – Verbania, 1944) has loaned for this exhibition.

Mu.Ma.G, which is ideally situated for hiking and cycling trips to other sites within the marble and granite quarrying system, such as, in particular, the Veneranda Fabbrica complex in Candoglia and the Antica Cava di Ornavasso, forms a stop on the circular route between Candoglia and Albo. As part of the Mulm project, a small outdoor exhibition has therefore been set up along the entrance to the Candoglia–Albo footpath, consisting of three educational panels on quarrying, accompanied by period photographs that allow visitors to compare the sites as they were in the past and as they are today.

Opening times: from June to September, on Saturday mornings, in conjunction with the guided tours organised by the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano to the quarries at Candoglia.
Admission: free
The museum is also always available for private viewings by appointment for school and tourist groups: 0323 840809 info@ecomuseogranitomontorfano.it

GEO-TOPICS: georesources

Link: Ecomuseum; Mu.Ma.G.