Museo Cultura e Musica Popolare dei Peloritani

Museum of Sicilian Folk music

These photos are of an interesting museum of Sicilian folk music and folklore in Gesso, the province of Messina.

The museum has an assorted collection of instruments – including bagpipes, flutes, accordions and mandolins – as well as a small collection of implements used for making ricotta wine and bread.

The name of the village “Gesso” means ‘chalk’ in Italian and is derived from the eponymous mineral (gypsum) that was once found here. There is a small exhibition showing how the gypsum was made into chalk.