Everyday Life Trail
This allows for a comparison between contemporary everyday life and that our ancestors, highlighting how - over just a few decades - the relationship with work and the environment has radically changed.
Pistoia Apennines people’s Museum
RIVORETA – Via degli Scoiattoli
The museum features a journey across the daily life of people in the Apennine from the past few centuries to the present day, through working tools and everyday life, images, sounds, stories, and tests, encouraging the visitor to delve into a “hands-on” dimension.
It is possible to test one’s creativity and manual skill in the Toy Workshop, a workshop where children and teenagers can enjoy themselves building traditional items and toys using recycled materials.
In an ancient restored metato (where the chestnuts are dried) outbuilding, the Wool Section has been set up, including a large loom dating to the early twentieth century, with all related accessories.
OPENING HOURS 2024
From 21st June to 8th September: from Friday to Sunday and Thursday 15th August, from 3.30 to 6.30 p.m.
For visits during extraordinary opening hours, please call the number +39 0573 638025.
The Chestnut Way
ORSIGNA - Via di Paoluccio
Chestnut processing begins during the month of October, when the fruit is picked and taken to the metato, where it is dried on a low flame for 40 days. The chestnuts are then cleaned and transported to the Molino di Giamba where they are milled: the grindstones, driven by waterpower, turn the valuable fruits into sweet flour.
Between the end of October and early December it is possible to pick the chestnuts in the didactic orchard and watch all phases of this process. During the rest of the year you can walk in and sit in the metato, then walking down the Orsigna Stream, cross the two wooden bridges built following a project by Leonardo da Vinci and reach the mill, which will be operated for your benefit!
The Charcoal Way
ORSIGNA
After the mill, we invite you to discover the ancient trade of the coalman.
Try and picture his hard life: walk into the shelter - a shack made of branches, leaves, and earth where coalmen spent long months far away from home - and look at the reconstruction of a coal cellar: this will give you an idea of how much effort and expertise were required to store the wood for burning in a workmanlike manner and to get coal.
The Everyday Life Trail in Orsigna is managed by the Cultural Association I Tre Mulini, a member of the Pistoia Mountains Museum System.
OPENING HOURS 2024
From 21st June to 8th September: from Friday to Sunday and Thursday 15th August, from 3.30 to 6.30 p.m.
Meet the guide at the meeting point at 3.30 p.m. For the following visits, the guide will be along the route
Closed in case of bad weather.
For visits during extraordinary opening hours, please call the number +39 0573 638025.
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