Museo della Pipa

History
The Gavirate pipe museum, now known as the First Italian Pipe Museum, was established in the late 1970s by J.M. Alberto Paronelli. During his years of commercial activity as a pipe maker and during his frequent trips abroad he had collected numerous and valuable pieces. Since its establishment the museum is located in Gavirate in the province of Varese, North-Italy.

Collection
At the end of 2005 the pieces collected exceeded 30,000 items. These include pipes, tools, machinery, paper volumes, porcelain, earthenware, etc.   The circa thirty pieces of machinery for turnig wood are the most diverse. Among these we point out the four pedal lathes for turning briar pipes, over a century old.

The museum is proud of the petrified Erica Arborea, more than five million years old (found in Sardinia), as a testimony that the root used to make the wooden pipe is a prehistoric plant.

Opening hours
Museum visit by appointment