Opened in 2006, the Museo di Pels (or Hair Museum) in Elva preserves the memory of a unique trade born in the mountains of Valle Maira: that of the hair collectors.

The museum tells the story of how the people of Elva, in times when life offered them little or nothing, found a way to improve their condition by inventing an ingenious trade: hair collecting.

The unusual activity of the caviè consisted of collecting and sorting hair. Lhi Pelassiers would leave Elva at the beginning of autumn, when agricultural work was finished, and go wherever they could find a woman or girl willing to part with her hair in exchange for a few lire, a piece of fabric, or a scarf.

When actual braids were scarce, they would settle for hair from combs. Once all the harvest was packed into large sacks, they would bring them to Elva. Here the women would wash, comb, and divide them into braids that were hung to dry. It was a precious raw material, essential for making wigs, and was sold on foreign markets.

The museum tells the stories of this itinerant trade, the memory of a community that managed to identify a valid alternative to poverty and pursued it with ingenuity.

A source of inspiration you should definitely visit!

• Borgata Serre (Elva)
• https://elvavallemaira.it/il-museo/

• How to visit the site

  "Museo di Pels" Hours - Borgata Serre, Elva MARCH OPEN by advance reservation only For more information contact: +39 340/9846508