Museo dei Burattini

Bologna's Museo dei Burattini is dedicated to the centuries-old tradition of northern Italian puppet theatre, with a particular focus on burattini — the hand-operated glove puppets native to the Emilia-Romagna region. Bologna has long been a stronghold of this folk art form: beloved characters such as Fagiolino and the raucous Sganapino were born on the city's street stages and remain embedded in local cultural memory. The museum, opened in 2000, holds an extensive collection of historical puppets, stage sets, and props that trace the craft across several centuries. It makes for an engaging visit with children curious about the mechanics of the figures, while offering adults a focused window into pre-modern popular entertainment that sits well apart from the city's grander art institutions.