A castle, many stories and the timeless charm of lost trades.
Objects that have stories to tell. They speak of ancient skills, of arts and above all of the people whose passion, sacrifice and dedication have made this land great. A castle that has been converted from a fortified enclosure into a noble country residence. Imposing and elegant with its quadrangular-based tower that rises over the hills, leaving the Monferrato behind it and glancing towards the Rocche del Roero (Roero Rocks), offering a priceless view. In 1980, a community and a group of volunteers decided to revive the many rooms and its labyrinthine underground passages by setting up an original museum. This is how the Museo Arti e Mestieri di un Tempo (Arts and Crafts of Bygone Days Museum) was born. Thanks to its 4000 objects, the museum offers visitors a journey into the past and into Piedmont's artisan and rural culture. Tangible evidence of lives and everyday life, times when toil, sweat and callous marks on the hands were a sign of dignified industriousness.
Once upon a time there was, and still is, a castle that has a lot to tell young and old alike.
Cisterna d'Asti is an ancient village, a name perhaps derived from the well still visible in the courtyard of the manor house. The oldest references even date back to Roman times. We can find it again in the Middle Ages as an important fortified garrison and then there was a series of changes and nobles who fought over this fortress until today. There is so much history, an indissoluble bond with the land, with the vineyards that shape its slopes, with the fruit orchards, and all this could only continue to survive within the rooms of the castle: each room represents a trade, a small old-style workshop, where you can also see traditional work tools. Be it cooper, wheelwright, cobbler, carpenter, weaver, tailor, baker or whatever, everything here tells of these trades through the tools and rudimentary machines.
The sounds, scents and atmosphere of times gone by live on in the castle's many rooms.
This place has also been conceived for the new generations, so that memories do not fade with time and everyone can relate the most advanced and modern production systems to those work tools.
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