The Ethnographic Museum of Sant’Antioco, opened in July 1996, is located a few meters from the Hypogeum Village. The recently restored structure was part of an old warehouse used for winemaking, consisting of a large room and a porticoed courtyard commonly called a “lolla.” On display inside are tools used until the 1950s to carry out the various trades practiced on the island of Sant’Antioco. The first section exhibits all the processes and utensils related to bread making, from the main product wheat to the products obtained through its milling: flour, semolina and bran, and to pani coccoi, focaccia and even the traditional coccois de su santu. The exhibition continues with the tools used in the cultivation of the vine to obtain the intense wine Carignano that is still in high demand among connoisseurs. Of particular interest is the section devoted to the history of a very important weaving school active until the late 1930s, where female students, followed by master Italo Diana, learned the art of spinning and weaving byssus. The indoor exhibit concludes with a section devoted to the harvesting and weaving of dwarf palm leaves through which the poorest families in the village, particularly those who lived in the cave district, obtained an economic livelihood in the absence of a real trade. With the dried leaves they made brooms, bags, ropes, horsehair for padding and other handicrafts. The external part ends with the essential tools for winemaking such as vats, barrels and more.
