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Museum of Mediterranean Masks

Mamoiada's mask museum, tracing the Mamuthones and Issohadores of Barbagia's carnival within a Mediterranean context.

  • Mamoiada
  • Museum
Plan your visit
Where
Mamoiada
Best for
Mamuthones and Issohadores masks
Allow
1 hour

Mamuthones and Issohadores, the two masked figures at the heart of Barbagia's carnival, are the subject of this small ethnographic museum in Mamoiada, which sets the local tradition inside a wider Mediterranean context of masking cultures.

Historian Raffaello Marchi traced the contrast between the two figures, the somber, cowbell-hung Mamuthones and the sprightlier, red-costumed Issohadores who lasso onlookers with rope, to a legend of the Barbaricini defeating Moorish raiders long ago, though scholars continue to debate the masks' true origins. Two exhibition halls, the Sala del Carnevale barbaricino and the Sala del Mediterraneo, display costumes, masks and cowbells alongside comparative material from masking traditions elsewhere around the Mediterranean, drawing over seventeen thousand visitors in 2022 to a village otherwise known mainly for its role each January and Carnival season.

Four works worth finding

If you see nothing else, see these.

  1. The MamuthonesBarbagia tradition

    Somber figures in dark masks, hung with heavy cowbells that sound as they move.Sala del Carnevale barbaricino

  2. The IssohadoresBarbagia tradition

    Lively figures in red who lasso onlookers with a rope, the counterpart to the Mamuthones.Sala del Carnevale barbaricino

  3. The Mediterranean masksVarious masking traditions

    Costumes and masks from other Mediterranean traditions put Mamoiada’s rites in a wider context.Sala del Mediterraneo

  4. The Barbaricini and the Moors legendHistorian Raffaello Marchi’s interpretation

    One theory reads the two masks as the Barbaricini defeating Moorish raiders. Scholars still debate where the masks really come from.Explained in the exhibition

Plan your visit

Everything you need before you go.

Booking
No booking needed
Time needed
1 hour
Best time
Any weekday, or during Carnival to see the masks worn live in the streets
Getting there
On Piazza Europa in Mamoiada, in the Barbagia hills about 20 km from Nuoro; a car is the practical way in.

Listen for the difference in the cowbells between the two mask types before you leave: the Mamuthones' heavy bronze bells and the Issohadores' lighter bells are tuned deliberately differently, a detail easy to miss just looking at the costumes.

Official website
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Good to know

How long should you spend at the Museum of Mediterranean Masks?

About an hour. The museum is small, with two exhibition halls, but the costumes and masks reward a slow look. Add time for a walk in Mamoiada, known for its murals and wine.

When can you see the Mamuthones in person?

During the festivals of January, around Sant’Antonio Abate, and during Carnival, when the masked figures parade through the streets. At other times the museum is the best way to see the costumes. Check local dates for the year you visit.

Where is the Museum of Mediterranean Masks?

In Mamoiada, on Piazza Europa, in the Barbagia hills about twenty kilometers from Nuoro. A car is the practical way to reach it. Plan it with other Barbagia stops such as Orgosolo and its murals.

More to see nearby

Same city first, then the nearest across the region.

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