Objects and Tools, Documents and Testimonies: A Rich Heritage

The heritage of the MET in Santarcangelo is the result of acquisitions and private donations accumulated over the years. It also includes material documents and testimonies obtained through research activities in the local area, which form the museum’s foundational base.

Today, the collection includes objects from material culture, agricultural tools and implements, large machines, and transportation means once used for farming activities, daily life, and the trades of the town.

Additionally, the collection features a valuable archive of photographic materials and interviews, completing the narrative between the tangible and intangible. It also includes a collection of puppets and marionettes that belonged to the Salici-Stignani family/puppet troupe, active from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century.

Fabbro

Ethnography: A Thematic Narrative

The rich ethnographic heritage contains life documents relating to the rural world of Romagna, through which various aspects can be told, such as labor activities, trades, home life, and family. It also sheds light on the universe of beliefs, religiosity, and rituals, which give objects additional layers of meaning, from the functional to the symbolic.

The Wheat Cycle

The territory of Santarcangelo has always had a strong agricultural vocation, primarily centered around two key crops: wheat (and other cereals) and grapes.

The wheat path is made up of tools, knowledge, and beliefs in which the main players—humans, the sun, the earth, and the ear of wheat—assign both practical roles and symbolic meanings to each tool.

The first phase of the wheat cycle is plowing, which takes place in autumn. Once completed, the soil is ready for sowing, which was originally done by hand (broadcast seeding) and later with the use of a harrow.

The harrow is an agricultural implement that follows the plow. It has small teeth or a smoothing roller used to press the seeds into the soil.

In the spring following plowing, harvesting begins using a sickle, a tool with a narrow, curved blade and a short wooden handle. The fingers not involved in cutting were protected by cane thimbles. This manual method was eventually replaced by an animal-drawn mechanical seeder.

The harvested ears of wheat were left in the field for a few days to dry before threshing, the process of separating the grain (called caryopsis—a dry fruit containing a single seed) from the ear. This was done using various tools: a jointed flail (called correggiato), a heavy stone or a toothed board dragged over the ears, or a mechanical threshing machine.

After threshing came the winnowing process, used to separate the grain from the chaff (the outer covering of the seed), followed by the selection of seeds for transport to the mill or for the next sowing season.

Every phase of the wheat cycle was deeply rooted in a symbolic universe aimed at ensuring a good harvest, successful grain storage, and general good fortune. The harvesting sickle, for example, was also used to drive away thunderstorms.

The end of the harvest was a time for exchange, communication, and the organization of harvest celebrations, often held in the farmyard of rural homes.

The Wine Cycle

Wine has always been a symbol of conviviality—an element of connection and social bonding. Through wine, people exchange goods, form family ties and friendships, read the future, drive away negativity, and strengthen the spirit.

The grape harvest (vendemmia) is one of the most important moments of the agricultural year, and it involves all members of the farming family.

Between the 19th and 20th centuries, the most common grape pressing methods involved the use of a wooden container called a bigoncia for collecting grapes, along with a pressing box and vat.

In addition to these containers, the fermentation vat—called tino—was used. The must, a thick and cloudy liquid, remained in the vat for an average of 5 to 12 days. At the time of racking, a spigot was inserted into the tap hole of the vat.

After racking, a second wine could be produced using a portion of the pomace (the residue from pressing the grapes). The pomace was soaked in water for 24 to 48 hours to extract remaining flavors and sugars.

Once racked from the tino, the wine was transferred into barrels and large glass demijohns (damigiane) to complete the fermentation process.

During fermentation, the wine would leave lees—sediment—at the bottom of the container. To remove these impurities, the wine was traditionally decanted three times, starting on Saint Martin’s Day (November 11) and finishing at Easter.

Traditional bottling used a siphon and a thin-spouted funnel. Once filled, bottles were sealed with corks, inserted using a special corking tool.

With Water and Stone: The Mills

In the Valmarecchia area, many mills still exist—some even still in use—that operate by harnessing the power of water to generate the energy needed to turn the millstones that grind grain into flour.

These millstones are large, heavy stone wheels known as hydraulic because they are powered by water. The system used in this region is called a “horizontal wheel” or “direct drive” mill: a simple design in which the force of falling water turns a horizontal wheel that is directly connected to the upper millstone. One turn of the waterwheel corresponds to one turn of the millstone, which makes it efficient but not optimal for extracting maximum energy from the water flow.

The mill is divided into two parts: the upper section, where the miller works, and the lower section, which contains the mechanism for channeling water and converting its energy into motion.
In the upper part are two millstones: a fixed lower one and a rotating upper one, connected to a central shaft called the driving spindle. Also present are grinding stones and a large wooden chest used to collect the flour.

Grinding begins by pouring grain into a large funnel-shaped hopper. From there, the grain flows onto a small tilting scoop called the “sessola”; the angle of the scoop determines the speed at which the grain descends between the two millstones.

The mill is a meeting place for various productive skills—an important traditional setting that requires deep technological knowledge and craftsmanship from the miller and their assistants.

It is also a symbolic meeting place between the sun (grain) and the moon (water and stone), and is often at the center of mysterious folk beliefs about tricks played by the devil or the presence of goblins.
 Numerous legends tell of these little creatures who, according to the miller, would magically keep the mill working—even when it was broken or lacked water. These goblins were said to grind for themselves or for the fairies who lived in the woods nearby.

Rural Transportation

Since ancient times, the cart has been the main vehicle for transporting people and goods. In the rural areas of southern Romagna, it continued to be widely used by farming communities.

The most common type of cart in Italy was the two-wheeled biroccio, typically pulled by a pair of oxen, and less frequently by cows.
 Thanks to the strength of the draft animals, these carts could be large and heavy. Among farm carts, the most solid and sturdy was the plaustrum, a four-wheeled cart used by farmers and laborers to carry heavy or bulky loads.

MET CARRI

The plaustrum was equipped with a shaft for steering and pulled by oxen. It was connected to the chassis by a yoke—a wooden crossbar, often carved to fit the animals’ necks, with metal and leather fittings attached.

Heavy rural carts were often hand-painted or carved, especially in certain areas, with imagery drawn almost exclusively from religious tradition. Among the most common figures were Saint Anthony the Abbot, shown with a miter and pastoral staff (often mistaken by farmers for Saint Anthony of Padua), the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Saint George slaying the dragon. These central icons were typically surrounded by rich decorative elements: rosettes, floral garlands, and geometric engravings.
On the sides of these carts, one could frequently read the name of the builder, the place and year of construction, and often also the name of the decorator, or even the commissioning owner.

Owning a beautifully decorated cart was considered a status symbol among farming families. On special occasions—such as festivals, markets, or weddings—the cart and oxen were carefully adorned for public parades. These processions were often led by the distinctive sound and gleam of the caveja: an ornamental iron pin with bells, traditionally fixed to the yoke, symbolizing pride, identity, and good fortune.

The Caveja: Function and Symbol

The caveja is one of the most iconic objects in the MET’s collection, which includes 130 pieces dating from the 16th to the 20th century. While it is a functional tool, the caveja has also become a powerful symbol of Romagna’s rural tradition.

Structurally, it consists of a wrought iron shaft topped by a decorated plate, known as the pagella, which may feature various images and from one to six ringing loops, depending on the complexity of the design.

From a practical standpoint, the caveja was used to secure the yoke, carried by a pair of oxen, to the shaft of a plough, cart, or harrow. It also served a braking function, helping prevent the vehicle from striking the animals during stops or descents.

To create a sounding caveja, the steel is forged on an anvil, joining the shaft and the top plate by heating and hammering the two components together. The shaft is heated to a higher temperature than the plate to achieve a strong and lasting weld.

The decoration of the pagella reflects a magico-religious and symbolic tradition, rich in meaning. Common motifs include floral patterns, Christian symbols, animals, human figures (such as peasants or bishops), hearts, and celestial bodies like the sun and moon. These images were believed to give the caveja the power to protect people, animals, and property.

The caveja also played a role in ritual and symbolic practices, often accompanied by sounds, gestures, or spoken formulas. Some of its traditional uses include:

  • Dispelling storms and protecting crops by driving away evil forces
  • Purifying a home before a wedding, using its jingling sound as a ritual blessing
  • Determining the sex of an unborn child, by circling the mother three times and listening to the sound of the rings
  • Luring swarms of bees
  • Breaking spells or curses 

More than just a tool, the caveja is a vibrant expression of the imagination, beliefs, and heritage of Romagna’s rural culture.

Between Warp and Weft: Spinning and Weaving

Spinning and weaving have long been considered quintessentially female activities, essential to the survival of the household and imbued with deep symbolic meaning. The main tools used for these tasks—distaff, spindle, and loom—have, since ancient times, been linked to the world and rhythms of women.

Each fabric produced can be viewed as a kind of map, where natural fibers, traditional knowledge, symbols, and ritual practices of femininity are interwoven. The two key phases of the textile cycle are spinning and weaving.

Spinning, the process of turning raw fiber into thread, traditionally took place at home using a distaff (to hold the unspun fibers) and a spindle, which acts as both a weight and a flywheel. As the spindle spins, the fiber mass is drawn out and twisted into thread. Later, the spinning wheel, operated by a foot pedal, replaced the distaff and spindle.

The thread is then woven on a loom, where the crossing of warp and weft produces fabric. Using pedals, heddles (which raise and lower the warp threads), reeds, and beams (which hold the wound thread), the warp and weft are interlaced to form the textile.

Weaving linen and hemp was a crucial part of rural household economies, and nearly every home in Romagna once housed a large loom.

This craft also carried symbolic meanings, reflected in several local rituals:

  • The gift of the distaff from the mother-in-law to the bride upon entering her new home
  • A test of purity in which the bride had to pass through the stretched warp threads without breaking them, to prove the legitimacy of the marriage
  • The placement of the placenta beneath the loom following the birth of a baby girl

The Trades of the Village

The MET’s collection preserves the memory of numerous traditional village trades, each reflecting a rich world of materials, techniques, tools, and the passing down of knowledge from master to apprentice.

Some workshops in Santarcangelo still operate today, where tools and techniques have remained almost unchanged over time.

One example is the blacksmith’s trade, where iron is heated over a coal fire, hammered on an anvil, and then filed to create a variety of tools for household or agricultural use. The skill of the blacksmith has also produced remarkable wrought-iron works of artistic and historical significance.

Other specialized crafts include that of the farrier, who shoes cattle and horses, and the saddler, who stitches and assembles leather into different types of saddles and tack for horses and donkeys.

The rural cobbler’s shop contains the workbench and a complete set of tools: shoe lasts and measures, aprons, hammers, glues, and clamps—all used to make and repair shoes.

Still active today is the traditional hand-printed fabric workshop, where a mangle from 1633—a large wooden wheel used to press and smooth fabrics—is in use (the MET preserves a working scale model). The textiles are decorated using hand-carved pearwood blocks and natural pigments, the most iconic being the distinctive “rust red.”

These engraved motifs are numerous and often draw from symbols of magical and religious protection, representing an essential part of Romagna’s folk decorative heritage.

Puppets: The Salici-Stignani Collection

The MET houses a valuable collection of puppets once owned by the Salici-Stignani family, a lineage of puppeteers active from the late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century. The collection was donated to the town of Santarcangelo in the 1990s by Tinin Mantegazza, a notable artist and puppet theatre enthusiast.

At the heart of the collection are the so-called “burattette”, hybrid figures that bridge the world of glove puppets (burattini) and string puppets (marionette). These figures stand about 70 cm tall and weigh around 2 kg. Unlike traditional glove puppets, which are controlled by a hand inside the body, burattette have articulated legs like marionettes and are manipulated from below using iron rods.

Burattini al MET

In addition to the burattette, the collection features an extensive array of scenic backdrops, paper maché props, equipment, and over 300 handmade costumes—all crafted with fine fabrics and meticulous attention to detail, allowing each character to play multiple theatrical roles.

Performances with these puppets traditionally took place in public squares, combining melodrama, tragedy, and commedia dell’arte elements to create a rich and varied theatrical experience.

Operating these heavy puppets requires significant physical strength and breath control, as the puppeteer must animate the character while also giving it voice. Very few people mastered this demanding craft. The last to do so was Renzo Salici, a performer active primarily in Venice and surrounding areas.

Gallery

Burattini al MET
vestiti burattini