the museum
general information
The Museum of Peasant Civilization is housed in the building (built in 1856) which was the seat of the municipal school until the 1970s. Memories of the hours spent in the classrooms abound among the inhabitants of Stabio, today exhibition spaces that host thousands of children every year.
The 3-storey building overlooks Piazza Maggiore, in the heart of the historic core of Stabio, and consists of 6 exhibition halls.
2 of the exhibition halls are dedicated to the broad theme of peasant civilization, 2 other rooms are dedicated totemporary exhibitionswhose theme changes annually, 1 room is dedicated to the "multipurpose room" of the Stabio Culture Dicastery and the remaining room houses the laboratory.
how to reach us
address
Museum of Peasant Civilization
Via Natale Albisetti 3, CH - 6855 Stabio
The Museum overlooks Piazza Maggiore, a possible point of reference.
reach us by train:
Stabio station (Stabio FFS) is a 5-minute walk from the Museum.
From Mendrisio take the S50 towards Malpensa Airport T2.
From Como and Milan, once you reach Mendrisio, take the S50 towards Malpensa.
From Varese take the S50 towards Mendrisio.
We would like to point out the FFS website where you can consult the train timetable: https://www.sbb.ch/it/orario.html
reach us by bus:
From Mendrisio take the B 523 towards Gaggiolo border and get off at the "Stabio Municipio" stop.
From Gaggiolo border take the B 523 towards Mendrisio station and get off at the "Stabio Municipio" stop.
From Morbio Inferiore (Serfontana), passing through Novazzano, the line is 518, with a stop at "Stabio Municipio".
We would like to point out the Autopostali website where you can consult the bus timetable: https://www.postauto.ch/it
reach us by car:
From Mendrisio, Lugano, Bellinzona (A2/E35) take the exit for Stabio/Varese. At the traffic lights go straight and follow the road signs.
From Varese: cross the border at Gaggiolo and follow the road signs.
There are several car parks available, blue zone with parking disc (1h - 4h), near the Museum (see map).
reach us by bike:
We point out the route along the Laveggio Park, in the direction of Santa Margherita (coming from Mendrisio). The center of Stabio is all slow traffic (30 km/h).
the mission of the Museum
The Museum essentially sets itself the following objectives:
promote knowledge, dissemination and protection of the historical and ethnographic heritage of the region;
promote the development of citizens' historical, social and cultural awareness and their sensitivity towards tangible and intangible cultural heritage;
carry out initiatives that facilitate the analysis and understanding of today's reality.
Performance contract 2023 -2026
between the Republic and Canton of Ticino and the Museum of Peasant Civilization
The Museum of Rural Civilization is one of the 11 ethnographic museums recognized by the Canton.
The Center for Dialectology and Ethnography (CDE) is responsible for coordinating, supporting and supervising the activities of the regional museums that have signed a performance contract with the Canton, introduced in 2003 and renewed every four years. In this context, the CDE defines the financial contribution paid to the individual museums and offers them scientific advice and technical assistance, making available staff, a sector library, a photography studio and a restoration laboratory.
The Association of Ticino Ethnographic Museums ( AMET ) pursues the primary aim of promoting the collection, conservation and valorisation of the numerous historical-ethnographic testimonies in the context of the regional ethnographic museums, promoting their coordination and the development of a coherent museum policy.
about Us
Direction
Rusconi Monica - curator and cultural manager
Collaborators
Vajro Martina - assistant curator and assistant cultural manager
Cultural mediators and guides
Antonini Aurelia - guide
Bianchi Noemi - assistant guide
Dettori Julia - guide
Ferrari Laura - guide
Sara War - Guide
Moresi Maëlle - assistant guide
Paloni Alice - assistant guide
the collections and the deposit
20,000 objects - in the heart of time
The Museum's collections have been gathered over approximately 45 years of activity. They are exclusively (with few exceptions) donations.
The collections have a predominantly agricultural character, and draw on a basin that includes the Mendrisiotto (with extension to the lake region), with exceptions related to specific realities of the territory.
The storage room where the collections are kept has 2 floors and 3 levels and has a surface area of approximately 1,000 m² . It is equipped with humidity control systems.
The movement of objects from the collection is approximately 500 units per year.
Loans to educational institutions for educational purposes will only be made starting from September 2024.
the library and the archives
The library consists of approximately 4,000 volumes, organized by subject.
This is a specialist library which is not accessible to the public due to its location (the attic of the Museum).
However, it is possible to request the consultation and loan of the volumes.
Some volumes are excluded from the loan but can be consulted on site.
The archives contain a collection of documents and photographs of approximately 10,000 units.
It is possible to request consultation for research and study purposes by writing to museo@stabio.ch
1981 - 2025: the history of the Museum
The idea of creating a museum was born in the summer of 1976 and its realization, with the opening to the public, took place in 1981. In over 43 years of life, the Museum has held over 80 exhibitions and hosted over 160,000 visitors.
The embryo of the current museum, opened to the public on 11 April 1981, can be dated back to the summer of 1976 when the "Albisetti Foundation Special Commission", charged with arranging the bequests of the Stabia sculptor Natale Albisetti in the rooms of the old school building, also imagined the creation of a project that would include a library, a permanent museum and a meeting room.
In the publication that tells "The first 10 years" of the Museum, we read, after the greeting from the Mayor, an introduction by Gino Macconi whose title is "The realization of an idea".
Macconi writes:
The work of preparing our rural museum lasted several years. A good number of friends helped me.
I can't remember them all, the list would be very long.
[...] We were not specialists, museologists but [...] we were all driven by a great passion.
[... ] The ideal users of the museum were - for me - the young, those who had not been able to personally know the peasant civilization of our region. The layout of the museum, the arrangement of the objects, therefore had to take into account above all the possibility of use by schoolchildren, by young students. I therefore opted for a descriptive, didactic exhibition method, which favored the ergological aspect rather than the reconstruction of environments.
Museum curators:
2017 - today Monica Rusconi
2011 - 2017 Marta Solinas
1981 - 2011 Sergio Pescia