Antica officina della famiglia Vellini, giunta in Sardegna dal Piemonte intorno alla metà dell’Ottocento, la Bottega del fabbro fu per diversi decenni il principale laboratorio ad Armungia per la forgiatura del ferro e la ferratura degli animali da lavoro.
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A fundamental place for the production of iron tools and the shoeing of working animals, the Blacksmith’s Workshop was opened in 1928 by Giuseppe Vellini and later carried on over time by his son Albino. The workshop was created by adapting part of an ancient dwelling for productive use, with its spaces transformed in response to the operational needs of the forge.
The workshop featured a central room in which the forge, anvil, and workbench defined the functional space for carrying out the main phases of the work: heating the metal with fire and suddenly cooling it with water, hammering it, and finishing it. This area was connected to the covered porch, with the frame used for shoeing oxen, and to the courtyard, the setting for complementary operations using stone grinding wheels for sharpening tools and a wall-mounted drill. The storeroom was finally the place where finished tools, as well as stocks of iron and coal, were kept.
The location of the workshop was not accidental: the building stood in a strategic position within the village’s road network. The blacksmith had to meet the vital needs of the rural society, especially during the critical periods of work in the fields. His craft combined passion and obligation, pride in the results achieved, sacrifice, and physical effort, due to the harsh bodily discipline required and to working hours that often stretched into the night. Restored in keeping with its original features, the Workshop can now be visited along a route that starts from the Ethnographic Museum and winds through the narrow lanes of the historic center.
