[Note: There are 10 small .jpgs on this page. They do not take much time to load, and for the die-hard Guareschi fan (who else would be reading this??), I think they're worth waiting for.]

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Though you can purchase Guareschi's books in its gift shop, the "Museo Don Camillo e Peppone" in Brescello is actually devoted to the 1950's-60's series of French-Italian produced films based on the Don Camillo stories, which starred Fernandel and Gino Cervi as the irascible priest and his equally hot-tempered adversary and friend. Brescello is the town (about 30 kilometers from GG's home) where the films' outdoor location shooting was done (as for the indoor filming, I believe that for the first two films in the series all of it was done on a Cinecitta' soundstage; by film #3, though, at least some of the indoor scenes-- including those in the church-- were shot in Brescello). And I think that the building which now houses the museum was featured as the Town Hall in the films.

Inside, the museum consists of two rooms. In the larger one, several rows of folding screens display many photos (mainly publicity stills, but also some behind-the-scenes shots) and newspaper articles associated with the five Don Camillo films, as well as a few from "Gente Cosi" (a movie made by Guareschi a year before the Don Camillo film series was begun) and from the ill-fated sixth Don Camillo film (to have been based on Don Camillo e i giovani d'oggi, its shooting was begun in 1970 and abandoned upon the death of star Fernandel). Film posters line the walls, bicycles and motorcycles (presumably ones actually used in the movies) are propped up in the corners, and one area is set aside for the perpetual showing of the videos of the Don Camillo films (they play in rotation; something's always on). Besides Guareschi's books, the gift shop sells videos, postcards, and kitschy souvenirs (t-shirts, figurines, wine and biscuits with a "Don Camillo" label, etc.).

In the next (smaller) room are reconstructions of a couple of familiar sets from the films, including Don Camillo's study (complete with "Don Camillo," or at least his cassock on a free-standing hanger) and the Botazzis' kitchen/dining area. My impression is that all of the props displayed are meant to be "the real thing" and not just facsimiles (but the person I saw them with was skeptical, and the language barrier prevented me from asking an employee outright).

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But there's more to see, outside the museum: on the immediate grounds are the tank from "Don Camillo e l'onorevole Peppone," a restored train engine (used in the early films, it says, though there are trains in all five), and (around back, in lovely green "Parco Giovannino Guareschi") a bust of Guareschi by German sculptor Gudrun Schreiner of Baden-Baden. Then, throughout the town (the museum provides a map) are scattered film locations such as the main piazza, the church (closed to tourists when I was there in August, 1998), the facades of Don Camillo's and Peppone's respective homes (including the balcony from which, in the first film in the series, Peppone announces the birth of "another comrade"), and the street where the large bell from "Don Camillo monsignore ma non troppo" now hangs. On the edge of town, visible from the main highway, is the familiar railroad station of Brescello (does it appear in all five films, or just the first four?).

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Finally, click here to visit the museum's official homepage, which includes movie stills and some text in both Italian and English. Look there for information on opening times and admission fees (I don't think there's a fee...). I've also seen the museum listed in some on-line museum directories, some of which refer to it as the "Museo Peppone e Don Camillo"-- not sure which order of the names is the the "official" one!