Museum Of Natural Colours

Since the sixth century, Benedictine monks have distinguished themselves as holders of herbal knowledge. The study and cultivation of medicinal plants were very widespread practices within the convents and the Abbey of Lamoli was no exception. The Metauro Valley was then at the centre of a flourishing trade especially linked to the dyeing of fabrics that is intertwined with the history of the entire territory.

Today the complex of the Abbey of Lamoli houses a museum entirely dedicated to this important part of the valley’s past: the Museum of Natural Colours Delio Bischi. A journey to retrace the history of natural colours and the use that man has made of them over the centuries, from antiquity to the early 1900s, when synthetic colours arrived on the market. The museum offers a journey full of practical experiences, thanks to a laboratory for the extraction of colours and the application on different supports.

An excellent way to learn about the nature of plant colour, the cultivation of dye plants, the extraction of colour, the use of pigments and the possible fields of use. One wing of the museum is dedicated to woad, Isatis tinctoria, a plant of the Brassicaceae family widely used for the production of blue.

Explanatory panels, dried specimens, coloured powders and dyed fabrics help us reconstruct the history of natural colours. Outside, in the meadows surrounding the Abbey there are large fields where medicinal and dyeing plants are still grown in perfect harmony with the surrounding environment. A pause for reflection on the bench under the centuries-old field maple, near the highest edge of the meadows, is highly recommended.