Owned by Monticelli family, Casa delle Marionette (House of Marionettes) hosts the Monticelli Collection. It is a constantly growing collection of marionettes, puppets, theatre scenery, handwritten scripts and other printed materials, passed down from father to son over five generations.

The collection is rather unusual: its ‘living’ items have been especially created for the shows that Monticelli family has been staging since the early 19th century, and not assembled by a collector. In particular, it comprises marionette and puppet theatre materials dating back to 19th century. The museum contains around fifty marionettes, one hundred puppets, approximately two hundred theatre sets, over one hundred handwritten scripts and many printed tour materials (flyers, letters, notices and permits) as well as miscellaneous items (wooden heads, puppet hands, puppet and marionette costumes).

Furthermore, one of the sections (called ”puppets, scenery and flyers”) is dedicated to the past 25 years of Teatro del Drago (Dragon Theatre), founded in 1979 by Andrea and Mauro Monticelli, members of the latest generation.

The House of Marionettes organizes guided tours of the collections, traditional Emilia Romagna puppet shows, puppet- and scenery-making workshops and (both historical and practical) refresher courses on puppet theatre for teachers.