The museum’s display was set up purposely to make the visit easy and smooth. It’s basically a large archive where memories of the humble, decorous yet troubled history of the arbëreshe people are gathered. The museum was founded to pose as living historical memory, as a center of study on the arbëreshe ethnic group, to educate on the Byzantine religious tradition, to give us access to the gallery that had been built in 1979. It’s divided into two floors, each organized in different sections.
On the ground floor, where there’s a reception to welcome visitors, there is also a monothematic library about the Italian-Albanian ethnic group: here you can find over 530 books published in Italy and more than 600 published in Albania. On the first floor, there is the Sala del Telaio, where there are two thematic pathways, one about Civita, the other about Arbëria. The main room of the museum is called the ‘totem’, due to the presence of two original wrought iron structures, some sort of tree whose branches can be leafed through to read about Skandenberg as well as admire photos of Ponte del Diavolo. Last but not least, there’s the clothing room: here one may find traditional outfits, including gala dresses, daily outfits, an example of aristocratic clothing that comes from Kosovo, a gala outfit that was borrowed from Cavallerizzo, and a casual attire that comes from San Giorgio Albanese.
