Mumat Museum in Vernio

The Mumat, Museum of Textile Machinery in Vernio, was built to preserve and remember the ancient machinery that made the history of the Prato industrial district, inside one of the rooms of the former Meucci factory.

Franco Meucci, in fact, had founded a two-mill in Vernio as early as 1813. This was joined in 1897, as was often the case in the Prato area, by a carbonizzo (textile mill for carbonizing textiles), whose work gradually became prevalent until the milling activities were finally discontinued in the 1920s.

The small company, which rapidly transformed into a modern enterprise with dozens of employees in the following years, suffered extensive damage during World War II. This, however, did not bring an end to the history of the Meucci factory, which indeed remained active until 1988.

It was in the 1990s that the Municipal Administration of Vernio purchased the building, which after restoration was transformed into the MuMat: here it is possible to admire tools and textile machines dating from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, including a very rare restored wooden loom.

At the MuMat you can breathe in the atmosphere of the old factories of yesteryear and discover the history of the Bisenzio Valley through its textile industrial past, as well as understand how rag recycling processing, typical of Prato, worked.

The museum also offers workshops for schools and guided tours.

Accessibility information: regione.toscana.it