Ecomuseo della Pietra da Cantoni

The Ecomuseum of Pietra da Cantoni narrates and enhances the uniqueness of the life and landscape of the Monferrato Casalese, promoting initiatives aimed at its recovery not only as a historical testimony of family and social life, but also to revitalise and reinterpret its functional and economic role with respect to the typical activities of this territory. This hilly landscape is strongly characterised with respect to the rest of the Monferrato area by its geology: rocks from the Miocene period, the Pietra da Cantoni, a sandstone that has conditioned and still influences the territory, outcrop here. Intimately linked to the culture of wine and the existence of sandstone, which is easy to work, are the Infernot, small underground chambers entirely dug into the Pietra da Cantoni. These are an appendix of the cellar, lacking in natural light and ventilation, commonly located under the houses, courtyards and sometimes the streets of our hills. They are true works of art, architectural masterpieces, born of tradition and peasant knowledge, created during the long winters, not by simple quarrymen but by Monferrato sculptors, true artists who remained anonymous in almost all cases. The infernot are of different types: single-chamber, multi-chamber or corridor. They have different finishes: smoothed, natural split or with visible pegs; the housing of the bottles varies: niches, tiers or continuous tiers. Some are embellished with decorations, others even have a table, which is never an added element but carved into the stone. Each infernot is a unique work of art created by the craftsmanship of ordinary people; it is an artefact that represents in synthesis the material and immaterial heritage of our Monferrato. There are many infernot in the area, 47 of which have been surveyed since 2002 by the Ecomuseo della Pietra da Cantoni in collaboration with the Istituto Superiore Statale Leardi of Casale Monferrato. At the Ecomuseum headquarters in Cella Monte and in Vignale Monferrato, the public can visit two of them.