It is among the oldest Italian museums in the field of material culture. Its origins date back to the Esposizioni Romagnole Riunite set up in Forlì in 1921. On that occasion Aldo Spallicci, Emilio Rosetti and Benedetto Pergoli created the Ethnographic Exhibition of Romagna, which constituted the first nucleus of the museum, officially inaugurated in April 1922 inside of Palazzo Merenda. Initially focused on traditional craft sectors (from cabinet-making, to ceramics, to printed canvas) and on old trades, the museum developed considerably after the war with a growing presence of tools and objects related to peasant uses and work. In fact, in 1964 a new museum section was opened inside Palazzo Gaddi with large agricultural machines and tools. Following the beginning of the restoration works in the Palace, since 2004 the materials relating to peasant work have been kept in a museum deposit. The museum is divided into two large exhibition sectors. The first develops inside Palazzo Merenda and includes substantial collections of furniture, ceramics and various furnishings with the reconstructions of the domestic environments of the typical farmhouse and that of the town. Then there are the traditional shops, those of the rust fabric printer, the potter, the blacksmith, the luthier, the cobbler, the hat maker, and, finally, the characteristic Romagna tavern. Among the furnishings is the interesting pictorial series by the artist from Cesena, Giordano Severi, dedicated to the fortresses and castles of Romagna (1928-30). At Palazzo Gaddi, in addition to the machines and tools associated with the various work cycles in the Romagna countryside, reconstructions of other artisan shops are proposed: those of the barber, the grocer, the candy maker, the tobacconist, the rope maker, the saddler, the blacksmith, framer, carpenter. One section is dedicated to maritime activities in Romagna, with model boats and reproductions of the sails of the fishing fleet, and to the salt pans of Cervia.