While planning our last trip to Rome my husband discovered the“The Museo Nazionale delle Paste Alimentari”! He was very clear that one of THE MAJOR things he wanted to see is this museum! No argument from this “pasta junkie” (no kidding, there is approximately one overhead cupboard in our kitchen stuffed with as many different shapes of pasta I can get my hands on!)…I’ve even hauled pasta home from Italy!
Guess what? We arrive in Rome, begin checking out opening and closing times of the museums and galleries we are interested in and lo and behold, of all bloody things, “The National Pasta Museum” appears to be closed for renovations???? I mean it’s not quite as bad as arriving in Rome and finding that they’ve got the Coliseum under wraps for renovations but for gawds sake!
I’ve read that for Italians pasta is “an Italian invention the world envies” but I’ll hazard a guess that the very idea that it may have been invented in China will send them into fits, which tells you how much Italians associate pasta with their national pride! This museum celebrates the evolution, production, and execution of pasta in all its deliciousness, particularly the Italian invention of dried pasta, a method that allowed pasta to be stored indefinitely and shipped all over the world. The museum, opened in 1993, covers eight centuries of history of this staple of the Italian diet, housing old machinery, traditional tools, assorted documents from antique prints, drawings, works of modern artists, edicts and documents regarding taxes on pasta over the centuries.
Being denied a visit to this museum, I guess Rome is not yet finished with us! I think we were more disappointed about missing out on that museum than not having enough time to visit Tivoli and the Borghese Gardens and with the continuing reports from Elizabeth Minichelli’s blog, mostly about Rome, I can see no end to wanting to return! If you get to go to the museum before we get back, let me know!!
Address: The Museo Nazionale della Paste Alimintari, Piazza Scanderbeg, 117, behind the Piazza Fontana di Trevi at the foot of the Quirnal Hill.
Visiting Hours: Every day from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm, closed December 25th and January 1. Except for when we were there this past April! Their website states they are temporarily closed for renovation.
**If you are interesting in checking out pasta recipes, click this recipe button link, scroll the list of categories where the recipes are listed by the seasons, happy hunting!
You know, I can top that: I *lived* in Rome for over 10 years and never actually visited that museum? Now what was I thinking? Not sure. Ah well, it’s an excuse to come back to Rome, a bit like throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain. (And that’s also under renovation at the moment, so I understand!)
So nice to hear from you Frank! We couldn’t believe how many things were under tarps when we were there last April! And not only that, we had to cope with all the additional “tourists” in Rome for the Cannonization of the two Popes! You couldn’t get anywhere near things for days! We basically headed out of town to Ostia Antica for a day and roamed along the Appian Way. We didn’t throw a coin in the fountain last time because there is not a hope in hell we will not be going back. It must have been “interesting” and quite an adventure to live in Rome that long. Thanks for dropping by my blog!
Well, this would be fun to visit! I’ll be there in a few weeks but, according to the site, it’s still being renovated…which could mean anything! Someday! 😀
No kidding Victoria! Do you think they will be re-opening in our lifetime??? We are planning that return visit to Rome for next September, keeping our fingers crossed! I think the museum would be fun…then of course you would have to find a place to have some pasta right afterwards! I just heard a couple of days ago that the Fontana di Trevi is being worked on! Of course, these things will be ongoing and I suppose you have to go back many times to cover what you would like to see because of that bit!