Museum of Paper

The Museum

Following the River Toscolano upstream from the centre of Toscolano Maderno, you will find yourself immersed in an enchanting landscape where nature and vegetation coexist with important traces of the past: it is the Paper Mills Valley. The valley was the centre of flourishing papermaking activities with records dating back to 1381 and still today it is characterised by picturesque traces left by the many paper mills built over the centuries along the River Toscolano. This enchanting setting is now the location of the Museum of Paper, built in the former paper mill of Maina Inferiore, a production centre in operation between the 15th and 20th centuries which has been completely restored to be used as an exhibition site. The exhibition describes in chronological order the different phases of the local papermaking industry from its origin in the second half of the 14th century until the 20th century. Archaeological finds from the excavations carried out in the valley and a collection of books printed in Toscolano in the first years of the 16th enrich the exhibition, guiding the visitor to the discover of the history of the Paper Mills Valley.