in Val Pellice

Tourist information portal of Pellice Valley (Piedmont, Italy)

Fondazione Centro Culturale Valdese

Organizations, initiatives and companies of tourist interest, Torre Pellice

Fondazione Centro Culturale Valdese, Torre Pellice

The Waldensian Foundation Cultural Centre is located in Torre Pellice, in the street named after the British General Charles Beckwith, a character who played a major role in Waldensian history. The main Waldensian buildings of the town are located in the same street: the temples, dwellings known as "houses of professors"; the "Unionist House"; the Waldensian House, home of the annual Synod of Waldo-Methodist Italian Churches; the European high school "Waldensian College" and the holiday Home “Waldensian Guest House".

The Centre was founded in 1989, bringing together under one management a rich historical and cultural heritage previously fragmented, to make it available to a wider audience: the library, Museum, archives and collections. Located in the heart of the so-called "Waldensian Valleys", the Centre is located in a border area and, in the context of a European reality under construction, aims to be a meeting and exchanging place in a spirit of cultural pluralism.

Founded in 1889, the Waldensian Museum, part of the Centre, was renovated several times, and is divided into two sections: a historical one, illustrating the eight centuries of the troubled story of the Waldensian; and an ethnographical one, documenting everyday life in the Waldensian Valleys between the 19th and 20th centuries. Since 1999, the Museum is leader of the Eco-Historical Museum System of the Waldensian Valleys, a series of memory locations and small museums scattered on the territory of the Waldensian Valleys. It documents variously elements of Waldensian history and material culture. The Museum, with a bookshop inside, is included in the circuit of "Subscription Museums Torino Piedmont" and the ticket includes an audio guide in four different languages.

A rich exhibition activity area, is divided into three components: the Room Paolo Paschetto dedicated to the artist's Collection (1885-1963, author of the seal of the Italian Republic), consisting of 140 works like oils, watercolours and etchings; the Ippolito Collection, composed of its archaeological finds of Greek, Egyptian, Italic and Roman civilization; an exhibition space "A window on ..." which is about on issues of the territory of the Waldensian Valleys. Recently the program of temporary exhibitions connected with the museum collections.

Reservation includes guided tours in various languages at the Museum, temples and historical sites of the Waldensian Valleys.

Varied the activities are offered to the public at the Centre during the year: exhibitions, conferences, seminars, lectures, historical walks, training courses in minority languages historical Valleys, Occitan and French.

The Centre also offers informative material on the history and material culture of the Waldensian Valleys, the Waldensian Churches and Protestantism.

The Waldensian Foundation Cultural Centre has set up an information point, running from April 25th to August 30th 2015, at the Waldensian Museum of Torre Pellice during the opening hours of the weekend: Saturday and Sunday from 15 to 18. The person responsible answers to questions about the Waldensian Museum System, i.e. on how to visit and times of Waldensian museums and historic sites located in the territory, and on ways and times to reach them, giving the ability to take small routes, historical and nature at the same time, independently.

On the Web: http://www.fondazionevaldese.org