Museo della Liquirizia Giorgio Amarelli

At Contrada Amarelli in Corigliano-Rossano, the Museo della Liquirizia Giorgio Amarelli presents the history of a family firm that has produced liquorice since 1731. Housed within the eighteenth-century concio, the museum brings together industrial equipment, documents and objects relating to the company and its region.

Why it matters

The museum connects the history of the Amarelli family enterprise with the development of liquorice production in Calabria. The firm traces its beginnings to 1731 and continues to process the raw root at the eighteenth-century concio. The museum, inaugurated in 2001, presents this industrial history within the setting where production developed.

What to notice

The collection includes documents, books, engravings, photographs, agricultural tools, everyday objects and antique clothing. Historic production equipment includes the cuocitori, large cookers used to reduce the root decoction, and bronze trafile through which the paste was shaped. An outdoor display of industrial machinery stands near the factory chimney, whose initials recall Barone Nicola Amarelli. The museum complex also includes the Alessandro Amarelli auditorium.

Context and history

A major change in the plant’s history came in 1907, when Nicola Amarelli introduced steam power. The museum opened in 2001, presenting objects and records gathered by the family. Further recognition followed: Poste Italiane issued a stamp dedicated to the museum in 2004, the family archive was declared of significant historical interest in 2012, and the firm was included in Treccani’s encyclopedia in 2021. The eighteenth-century concio remains central to the company’s account of its production history.