Daily life trail - Ecomuseo della Montagna Pistoiese

The museum takes you on a journey through the lives of this area's inhabitants, from centuries past to modern times, by means of work tools and everyday objects, images, sounds, stories and interactive rooms, which invite visitors to lose themselves in the idea of "making it with your own hands". The principal themes are "to be born in the mountains" and to "collect and carry", in other words, ways of treating and facing the complexity of life in the Apennines. The space dedicated to the coalman demonstrates how he used to use complex technical skills, which contrast with the idea we have of pre-industrial ways of working with simple and rudimental techniques. Visitors are invited to take part in the toy laboratory where they can experiment by using creativity and dexterity.

Chestnut processing begins during the month of October when the fruit is picked and taken to the 'metato', where it is dried on a low flame for 40 days. The chestnuts are then cleaned and transported to the Molino di Giamba where they are milled: the grindstones, driven by waterpower, turn the valuable fruits into a sweet flour. Between the end of October and early December, it is possible to pick the chestnuts in the didactic orchard and watch all phases of this process. During the rest of the year, you can walk in and sit in the 'metato', then walking down the Orsigna stream, cross the two wooden bridges built following a project by Leonardo da Vinci and reach the mill, which will be operated for your benefit. (Via di Paoluccio, Orsigna, Pistoia).

After the mill, we invite you to discover the ancient trade of the coalman. Try and picture his hard life: walk into the shelter – a shack made of branches, leaves and earth, where coalmen spent long months far away from home, and look at the reconstruction of a coal cellar: this will give you an idea of how much effort and expertise were required to store the wood for burning in a workmanlike manner and to get coal.