The museum of Iola di Montese was opened in 2011, and consists of a series of 16 rooms covering a total area of about 600 square metres, and housing 4,000 pieces arranged by theme. As well as the indoor museum, there are also several itineraries across the battlefields where Allied and German soldiers fought during the winter of 1944 and 1945 on the Green Line, the second and last line of defence, better known as the Gothic Line. 

The museum, recognised as a museum of quality by the Institute of Artistic, Cultural and Natural Heritage of the Region of Emilia Romagna, stands at about 920 metres above sea level, on the town square, next to the church which was built in 1630. Ample parking spaces and nearby agritourism restaurants, one of which is just a short walk away, ensure a stress-free and enjoyable visit.

A visit to the seventeenth-century vicarage of the village of Iola will take you back in time. The museum recreates scenes of domestic life and traditional handcrafts from the Modenese mountains: you can visit the kitchen with its large fireplace and various household utensils, the bedroom with its wrought-iron bed, the weaver’s workshop with spindles and loom, the cobbler’s and carpenter’s workbenches, and agricultural tools. There are also exhibits from the Second World War, a time when our territory was the scene of bitter fighting, crossed by the Gothic Line in 1944-45. The exhibition includes items belonging to Italian soldiers, Americans of the 10th Mountain Division and German soldiers of the Wehrmacht.