Risorgimento Museum: in the footsteps of history
Genoa and surroundings
Two illustrious men, two dwelling-museums. Genoa has been the birthplace of many famous people. Many have left, but have always returned, others have had to flee for political reasons, others have chosen to live here because they were fascinated by its beauty.Here is an itinerary for you who love history and adventure, that combines two historic mansions, now museums, light years apart. From the historic centre you will climb upwards in the footsteps of two personalities who managed to bring Genoa to the world and the world to Genoa: Giuseppe Mazzini (known to his friends as "Pippo") and Captain D'Albertis.
Men who made Italy
Via Lomellini is the street of a museum which is little known but important and full of historical memories: the birthplace of philosopher, thinker, musician, exile Giuseppe Mazzini. Today its home is the Risorgimento Museum, the period that led Italy to become a nation. You will find many relics, including the original autographed document of Mameli's anthem... uniforms, flags, posters, sculptures, peculiar objects such as Mazzini's... guitar!
Higher and higher
Walk down Via Balbi, not forgetting Palazzo Reale. The itinerary, surprisingly, will take you to the top. Take a seat in the cabin of the Montegalletto Lift, the only lift in the world capable of travelling 300 metres horizontally like a funicular railway and 70 metres vertically like a lift. You will then reach the D'Albertis Castle, home to the Museum of World Cultures.
The Captain's Castle
This neo-Gothic castle was the house of the Genoese Captain Enrico D'Albertis, who lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and was a seafarer, writer, explorer and philanthropist, as well as a lover of challenges who circumnavigated the world three times. During his travels around the world, he collected a myriad of exotic objects, colonial trophies and weapons, which form the core of the Museum, enriched by further collections. Then go up to the upper loggia (where there is a sculpture of the young Christopher Columbus by Monteverde) and marvel: you will enjoy a unique panorama of the city, from the Lighthouse to the Castello hill. And beyond.
