Industrial Heritage Museum, Industry museum in Bologna, Italy.
The Industrial Heritage Museum occupies a 19th-century brick factory building and displays machinery, hand tools, and production equipment across its galleries. The collection focuses on what people made by hand and how techniques changed over time.
Established in 1982, it was created to document Bologna's industrial past starting from medieval silk production through to modern factory work. It records how manufacturing methods evolved over centuries as new technologies emerged.
The collection reveals how production shaped daily life in Bologna and what machines meant to the people who worked here. Walking through the rooms, you notice how work and creativity were deeply connected in this city.
The museum operates Thursday through Sunday, but only from September through July, with the rest of the year closed. If you want to see the archives, arrange a visit in advance.
Some of the steam engines and silk looms remain in their original condition, showing exactly how work looked in those rooms. These machines come straight from the past and give you a direct sense of how demanding and careful the handwork had to be.
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