Description
Discovering secret places
The area between Lake Como and Lake Ceresio offers a wide range of museums; particularly in the municipality of Grandola ed Uniti, the splendid Villa Camozzi, seat of the town hall, is home to the Valsanagra Ethnographic and Naturalistic Museum. Its goal is to create a "natural historical memory" of the past civilizations that populated the Valsanagra area, preserving their physical and documentary traces so they can be passed on to future generations.
A museum that traces the natural historical memory of past civilizations
The Valsanagra Museum is one of a kind; together with the Valsanagra Tourist Information Center, it represents a true educational center, capable of guiding visitors in the discovery of this great cultural and naturalistic heritage.
The Valsanagra Museum, officially founded in 2001 thanks to the commitment of the mayor at the time and numerous fellow citizens, was recognized in 2007 by the Lombardy Region as a “Museum Collection” (dgr 2 August 2007 n° 8/5251); to complement it, the voluntary association “Storia, Natura e Vita” was also born, which was entrusted with the task of planning and realizing the museum but, above all, of connecting the reality of the museum with the Valsanagra Park, through a real educational center so as to connect two realities in continuous and symbiotic dialogue:
“The museum that guides the visitor to the park and, conversely, the park that directs the visitor to the Museum.”.
The museum is housed in the splendid Villa Camozzi, an 18th-century historic building with a panoramic garden overlooking the valley to Menaggio, with interiors embellished with frescoes, stucco work and original marble fireplaces.
The museum hosts numerous themed rooms dedicated to fossils, animals, dioramas, the former Menaggio-Porlezza railway, and freeze-dried mushrooms, showcasing the wide variety of natural and cultural experiences the area has to offer.
From a naturalistic point of view, evidence of the fauna, flora, paleontology and ethnography of the Valsanagra can be found collected; evidence of orography, hiking trails and ecology, as well as very ancient fossil and carboniferous finds are also present.
The museum also offers valuable testimonies to the local past, displaying a rich collection of everyday tools and instruments, once used by locals for tasks now obsolete. Noteworthy is the clock on the bell tower of Naggio, a hamlet of Grandola, which functions by gravity, and a charming memento of the Grandola ed Uniti music band.
The 7 exhibition halls
The museum exhibition includes 7 types of rooms, spread over two floors that explore different themes:
- Fossil Hall (Paleontological) —This is the most developed area, featuring ancient rocks and fossils from the coal deposits of the Gariasca Valley, neighboring areas of the Lepontine Alps, and Mount Pidaggia. Plant remains dating back over 310 million years are unique in Lombardy, considered the oldest fossils in the entire province and rare even at a national level.
- Dioramas Room (Eco-fauna) —It exhibits three dioramas, lifelike environmental reconstructions of wildlife habitats and various types of vegetation, from the oak forests to the mountain meadows of Valsanagra.
- Fauna Hall (Stuffed Animals) —It exhibits a collection of animals that populate the Valsanagra area, in particular a griffon vulture that died in the mountains of Alto Lario.
- Mushroom Room (Mycological) —It exhibits a collection of freeze-dried mushrooms and is one of the few in Italy.
- Music Room (of the Band) —It is dedicated to the Grandola musical group. The musical instruments of the now permanently disbanded band have found their place in the museum, arranged to simulate a concert.
- Ethnographic Hall —It exhibits a large collection of ancient objects, tools and equipment used in the past for various tasks and work activities that have now disappeared.
- Railway Hall — A documentary photographic exhibition of the old Menaggio-Porlezza railway (1884-1939) that retraces a very important history for this area that is experienced in a very nostalgic way.
Services
- PlayMuseum — Free interactive app for children and teenagers, available on tablets at the museum
- Proposals for schools and families — Dedicated educational paths
- Bookshop
- Online Virtual Tour — Available on the website with the curator Attilio Selva
Practical information
Address: Piazza L. Camozzi, 2 — 22010 Grandola ed Uniti (CO)
Management: Volunteer Association "History, Nature and Life"“
Nearby
- Valsanagra Park — It extends over the territory of Grandola ed Uniti and Menaggio
- Galli Furnace — It is the most significant and best-preserved example of pre-industrial archaeology in the Valsanagra area. Open from April to September, the second and last Sunday of the month (10:00–12:30; 14:00–17:30). Located in Mulino della Valle, Grandola ed Uniti (CO).
- Empire Forest — A nature trail in the municipality of Carlazzo, one of the many forests created in the 1930s that are home to many animal species.
Experiences
- Visit to the Galli Furnace — For information and reservations: telephone +39 0344.32115 · email: ecomuseo@valsanagra.it
- Combined Ticket Museum + Galli Furnace — Available at discounted rates
Gallery
