The Tolfa Section of the GAR

With the arrival of the GAR and its today much-missed president, Ludovico Magrini, a man of great charisma, many citizens of Tolfa dedicated themselves to archaeology and became aware of the important relics left by past civilizations in our territory. A Tolfa Section of the GAR was established with its headquarters in Via Rome and its workshops in the parish oratory. The members applied themselves to working with the GAI (Archaeological Groups of Italy) in organizing archaeological field schools as well as in field reconnaissance, excavations, and above all restoration work. In the period 1975-76, some 270 archaeological finds were restored with a high level of professionalism. They can be seen today in the showcases in the museum.

With the passing of the years, and with the changing needs of its members, the Tolfa Section of the GAR was closed, but GAR members still work to conserve and give value to the testimonials of our past. In recent years, a search for period photographs has been conducted to document the practices, customs, and development of our community since the invention of photography in the 1960s. The enormous collection gathered under the title of One Hundred Years of our History in Images is divided into chapters under headings such as Theatre, Music, Cinema, Sport, School, Agriculture, Wars, etc, etc. The chapter called Greetings from Tolfa, has a rich collection of more than a hundred postcards, beginning with those from the beginning of the last century that were produced in Tolfa by the Bargiacchi printshop.

The photographs, accompanied by copies of documents, have been on show in several exhibitions, either as a whole collection or in part to illustrate a particular theme. The members thank all those persons who have made available their photographs and hope that the collection, which now contains more than 500 items, will continue to expand in the future.