Collegio dei Barbi

Collegio dei Barbi. (School of the Barbas). This rock structure replicates one of the oldest buildings in the Waldensian Valleys. Built during the Middle Ages, it served as a meeting place and seminary for Waldensian pastors, called Barbas., The bottom room doubled as a stable for the animals, their body heat helping to heat the room above, and a fortified room with rifle slot in times of siege. Two rooms occupy the next level, one serving as a living-study-kitchen with a stone table where aspiring young missionaries studied with older, more experienced ministers, and the other a sleeping quarter. The top level has a large stable area with a loft for the hay above it., The Barbas were zealous evangelists, but when they were branded as heretics and forbidden to preach or circulate Scriptures even possession of a Bible was punishable by death - they were forced into secrecy and disguise. From here they went out in pairs, traveling in the guise of traders. As they sold their wares in the market places of Europe, they spoke to their customers of the Bible when the moment permitted., At one time it was said the Barbas could travel all the way across Europe and find lodging each night with a family that Barbas had won to the Lord., Also at this place Robert Olivetan translated the first Bible into French (from the oringinal Hebrew and Greek texts between 1532 and 1535) enabling the commoner to read the Bible. This was a significant contribution of the Waldenses to the Reformation. As a result, evangelism spread like wildfire across Europe.