The Abbey Museum of San Dalmazzo di Pedona, housed in the municipal premises of Borgo San Dalmazzo and managed by the Parish, was inaugurated in 2005 after a decade of work and is located in the fifteenth-century episcopal abbey villa.
Museum Route, Archaeological Route and Parish Museum
The Museum consists of three sections – Museum Route, Archaeological Route and Parish Museum – linked together in a suggestive tour that has its heart in the Romanesque crypt of the Parish Church.
Panels and scale models illustrate the historical evolution of the entire city of Borgo San Dalmazzo.
The first room
The first room focuses on the history of the church, tracing its evolution from the first site of Christian worship to the current parish building. In particular, the focus is on the abbey church of the twelfth century, whose origins are reconstructed and represented through a three-dimensional plastic.
The second room
The second room explores the theme of the Roman period in Pedona through an important series of finds found in the city’s historic centre and in the church of San Dalmazzo.
Objects of daily use used as grave goods in the incineration tombs of the necropolis of Pedo, alternate with interesting marble fragments belonging to the city of Pedona, among which the cippus of the “quadragesima galliarum” stands out: the goods tax to be paid to Pedona. On the walls some illustrations by Francesco Corni trace the funeral uses of Roman times.
The third room
The third room offers an in-depth study of the decoration of the abbey church in medieval times, offering the visitor a series of marble finds that belonged to the decorative apparatus of the church in the Lombard and Romanesque periods. Currencies, spirals and leaves carved on marble give us the wealth that should have distinguished the church. On the walls some works by Francesco Corni illustrate the production cycle of these fantastic objects.
The archaeological area
From the Museum you can reach the archaeological area that, thanks to an underground route, traces the history of the buildings of worship. The apses of the early Christian basilica and the Lombard church emerge, as well as some incineration and burial tombs that confirm the burial use of the site in Roman and medieval times.
The Romanesque crypt
The last stage of the archaeological itinerary is the evocative Romanesque crypt built between the 11th and 12th centuries at the service of the abbey church. A magical place that represents at the same time the heart of the sacred building, of the museum path and the cult reserved for the martyr Dalmazzo.
After passing the crypt, the route crosses some rooms once reserved for monks to reach the Parish Museum where there is a rich set of reliquaries and sacred vestments made between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. A repertoire of extraordinary objects that testify to the richness that had to characterize the Parish in past centuries, before its abandonment.
The visit ends in the Upper Chapel erected at the end of the seventeenth century at the presbytery of the parish and once the seat of the Brotherhood of San Dalmazzo. Decorated with gilded stuccoes and baroque paintings, the chapel houses a precious silver reliquary late-sixteenth century bust and allows you to enjoy a spectacular view of the current parish church.
OPENING
Sundays: 15.00 – 18.00 (last admission at 17.00 p.m)
It is possible to book the visit at times other than those indicated by calling +39 0171266133
FULL TICKET
5 €
REDUCED TICKET
3 € (from 15 to 19 y.o, Abbonamento Musei Piemonte)
2 € (under 15 y.o)
INFO
It is possible to book the educational activities proposed by the Abbey Museum of Pedona at +39 375 6044244, or by sending an e-mail to didattica@museoabbazia.it.
