Immersed in the picturesque Andezeno countryside, the Balbiano Museums represent a treasure of local history and culture, born from the enthusiasm and dedication of Francesco Balbiano.
Country life Museum: A Tribute to Family Traditions
The Balbiano Museum has its roots in the 1980s, when Francesco Balbiano transformed the family farmhouse into a modern company headquarters. During this process, he discovers a rich collection of agricultural and craft items used by his ancestors. To preserve and celebrate this heritage, Francesco decides to create a museum dedicated to local peasant traditions. From the granary to the stable, from agricultural tools to vintage toys, the Balbiano Museum offers a vivid and affectionate testimony of a past rooted in the Piedmontese land.
Ancient Toys Museum: A Collection of Nostalgia and Wonder
Next to the Balbiano Museum stands the Toy Museum, a place where the nostalgia and innocence of childhood come to life. Francesco Balbiano, fascinated by ancient toys, enriched the museum with unique pieces acquired from flea markets and donated by friends and neighbors. Each toy tells a story, each visit is a journey back in time to rediscover the games and wonders of a bygone era.
Today, the Balbiano di Andezeno Museums welcome visitors from around the world, offering a cultural and educational experience that celebrates rich local history and family heritage. Discover the secrets of a lost time, explore the unique collections and be enchanted by the magic of the Balbiano Museums.
Country Life Museum
The Balbiano Museum was born, as often happens, a bit by chance.
Around the end of the 1980s, Francesco Balbiano was involved in the complex work of transformation of his family's country farmhouse into the new winery building.
In the 1986 the wine shop opens and in 1988 the new cellars are ready. During the restoration of these historical spaces, many objects used by farmers are "discarded" to make room for new structures and the needs of a modern cellar. From the old barn, the stable and the carriage shelter emerge a large quantity of agricultural tools, used until a few years earlier by the "older" members of the family.
Francesco feels very attached to all this and the fear that the physical representation of his family's history and traditions will be lost is definitely too much. For this reason, rather than throwing them away, the objects are patiently cleaned and restored while awaiting relocation. The idea of a small museum of peasant traditions came during the restoration of the old carriage shelter: a large space, on the ground floor, perfect for an exhibition.
In the 1990, therefore, we inaugurated the Balbiano Museum.
Museum that can be visited alone or with the addition of a wine tasting.
EN The objects that are part of the first collection derive solely from what was saved from the restoration of the farmhouse and from the objects that the neighbors, friends and relatives (also in the process of being restored) willingly donated, as long as the I don't mind having to throw them away.
Francesco became more and more passionate about this small ancient world, starting to frequent the flea markets on Sunday mornings and purchasing (for a few lire) a few pieces to complete his collection.
Ancient Toys Museum
When collecting peasant objects, sometimes we even found some old ones toy.
The love at first sight with this world, for Francesco, is immediate, perhaps also due to the scarcity of toys he had during his childhood: "When I grew up I bought toys that I never had as a child!“.
Today the Balbiano Museum has more than 2000 pieces, the exhibition spaces are practically sold out, but if you are looking for Francesco early on Sunday morning... you know where to find him!
Those items carry too many with them memories, happy moments and too much wisdom to simply be thrown away.
Collecting is accumulating experiences, looking and collecting, preserving and communicating.
(Alberto Bolaffi)
Would you like to visit the two Balbiano Museums?
Contact us to plan your tour: we will dive into a lost past!
