Museum of the Customs and Traditions of the People of Trentino, San Michele all’Adige

The Museum of the Customs and Traditions of the People of Trentino showcases its dedication to the study and preservation of the culture of a people, with particular attention to the agrosilvopastoral reality of the Alpine mountain area, becoming the largest Italian ethnographic museum focused on local heritage. Founded in 1968 by Giuseppe Šebesta (1919-2005), since 1972 the museum has been housed in the prestigious setting of the ancient Augustinian Provostry of San Michele all’Adige, with its rich baroque church: it combines an extensive museum route with intense educational activities and services. Since 2002, the Museum of San Michele has included the Provincial Archive for Oral Tradition as a section. The exhibition is spread over five floors, with 43 rooms and over 12,000 objects on display: on the ground floor are sections dedicated to agriculture, the mill, the forge, the nail workshop, butcher’s shop, animal husbandry, the copper foundry, and wrought iron; on the first floor are textile fibers, the mountain hut, beekeeping, the forest, carts and sledges, the Venetian sawmill, wood art, and wedding customs; on the second floor are the tiled stove, ceramics, and kitchen; on the third floor are traditional costumes, annual rituals, music and bands, popular devotion, and hunting; finally, in the cellar are sections dedicated to wine and grappa, the wine cellar, and the Šebesta rooms.