In the cells on the first and third floors the ceilings are still the friars': barrel vaults in some rooms, sail vaults in others, kept in remarkable condition. The former Augustinian convent of Masone stands on piazza Castello, built hard against the old parish church of Nostra Signora Assunta, and it survived because it kept being useful — part of it now houses the “Andrea Tubino” municipal iron museum.
What to see
The convent was raised in the course of the sixteenth century beside the old parish church, in the historic centre, and it has kept its original structure. The monks' cells are the part that says the most: narrow, repeated rooms set off by their vaulted ceilings, preserved intact on the first and third floors. The private chapel also survives, along with the bakery rooms and their period ovens still in place — and a convent, before it prayed, had to eat.
The rooms carved out of the former convent complex hold the “Andrea Tubino” municipal iron museum, devoted to the metal and the way it was worked. The pairing is odd only at first glance: the sixteenth-century religious building and the trade that kept the village going sit under one roof, and the visit ends up being two visits.
Visiting
The entrance is on piazza Castello, in the old centre of Masone, next to the former parish church: church and convent adjoin each other and are done in the same walk. The convent rooms are open because they are museum rooms, so the hours are the museum's — check them in advance with the Comune di Masone before setting out, especially off season. These are small indoor spaces, and they work well on a rainy day.
Our editors' tip
Go straight up to the top floors and look at the cells before anything else: they are the best-preserved part and they change how you read the rest of the building. And do not skip the bakery rooms — those ovens tell you more about a convent's day than any interpretation panel.
