Museo dell'Olio d'Oliva

The Olive Oil Museum in Cisano, within the municipality of Bardolino, was established in 1988 by Umberto Turri as part of the family’s oil business. Its collection presents equipment used in Garda-area olive-oil production, including presses, mills and harvest tools.

Why it matters

Olive cultivation is a long-standing part of agriculture around Lake Garda. The museum’s machines and tools document the work of local mills and the development of oil production. The collection is housed at the historic premises of an oil-milling family, linking the exhibits with the industry they interpret.

What to notice

The collection includes a large oak lever press, a millstone crusher turned by a water wheel, and presses and tools made of wood and iron. The exhibition follows changes in milling technology into the early twentieth century, when mechanised equipment transformed oil extraction. Panels and video describe olive cultivation and production.

Context and history

Umberto Turri created the museum in spring 1988. Flavio Turri and Liliana Martino later developed the exhibition and expanded its rooms. Regional accounts trace Garda’s olive-oil history to an 835 reference by an abbot of Bobbio and a 643 edict protecting olive trees. The name Riviera degli Ulivi has been used for the lake shore since 1968. Garda olive oil received European Union DOP recognition in 1997 and is produced in the Bresciano, Orientale and Trentino zones. Casaliva is the native variety, alongside Frantoio and Leccino.