The Antonio Parazzi di Viadana Civic Museum is currently housed in a building dating from the early 1900s, which has been renamed ‘Mu.Vi.’ and is used as a multi-purpose centre collecting together numerous cultural institutions of the municipality of Viadana. The museum itself is named after its founder Don Antonio Parazzi, a clergyman and scholar of the nineteenth century, who was passionate enough about history and prehistory to establish, in 1880, the museum dedicated to collecting archaeological finds from the Viadanese - Casalasco area. With the passage of time, the cultural heritage has been enriched by numerous collections and, today, along with the archaeological artefacts, exhibits include fossils, architectural terracotta, Renaissance ceramics, majolica, fabrics and embroidery, sacred art, paintings, frescoes, ceiling boards and a Renaissance numismatic collection. The oldest artefacts in the museum date from the Neolithic period and are attributable to the Square Mouthed Vase culture. They were unearthed in archaeological investigations of some sites in the Basso Mantovano area in the 70s and 80s of the twentieth century. Dating from the Copper Age is a tomb with a curled up figure from the necropolis of Remedello, in the Province of Brescia, which was donated in the nineteenth century by Don Luigi Ruzzenenti di Asola. A substantial part of the archaeological section comprises artefacts discovered by Parazzi in investigating the Bronze Age settlements of Casale Zaffanella, Bellaguarda, Cogozzo and Sabbioneta, which were part of the Terramare civilization widespread, in particular, in the Provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Mantua and Cremona. There are also numerous remains from Roman era settlements and necropolises, including household goods, building materials, tools and equipment indicating a widespread agricultural and pastoral cultural vocation in the area and trade activities favoured by the presence of rivers, especially the Po River. To complete the archaeological section is a collection of artefacts from Etruria, Magna Grecia, Attica and several Egyptian remains, mainly late or Ptolemaic era funerary statuettes.
The Parazzi Museum offers different activities to schools according to age with thematic tours and educational laboratories. There is also a library that can be consulted on request.
Winter opening times:
MORNINGS: from Tuesday to Saturday, 9 am to 12:30 pm.
AFTERNOONS: from Tuesday to Friday, 3 pm to 6:30 pm.
Summer opening times from 13th June to 30th July and from 5th to 10th September:
MORNINGS: from Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 1:30 pm, Saturday, 9.30 am to 1 pm.
AFTERNOONS: Thursday, 2:30 pm to 6 pm.
Openings are scheduled for special exhibitions and events.
Closed on public holidays, in the month of August and on 10th September for the Patron Saint’s Day.
Prices:
Admission is free for all visitors.
Educational activities have a fee.
