The Museum of Hemp and Women’s Work awaits you In a building along the provincial road in Prazzo Inferiore, to introduce you to a significant part of the Valley’s history.

The starting point is work and its interaction with the territory.

The dominant theme is hemp: the different stages of its processing cycle are set in the cultural and social context of the time. The museum was created with the aim of recovering the signs of a particularly significant culture in the Maira Valley. It wants to highlight the production of hemp, which was cultivated until a few decades ago and constituted an important resource in the mountain economy, and emphasise the fundamental role of women. It was in fact she who took care of the house, fields, animals, often alone because the men emigrated in search of work.

And it was also largely to her that the hemp processing cycle was entrusted, from sowing to threshing, from spinning to the making of precious garments.

The display of tools and artefacts in settings reminiscent of the life of yesteryear brings to life a culture rich in ingenuity and industriousness. In order to better understand its value, a didactic route consisting of explanatory panels, an archive with films, interviews and research, and a multimedia room is available to visitors.

There is also an exhibition of wooden and ceramic objects made by local artists.

• Via Nazionale Prazzo Inferiore, 22 (Prazzo)

• How to visit the site

  Open by appointment by contacting the La Gabelo shop on 0171 99265 or Mrs Luciana on 347.1032172