One of the best views of Genoa is from the small, eclectic Museum of World Cultures. This enticing museum is housed in a late C19 structure built on the summit of a hill overlooking the lower town and harbour. The building itself is as eclectic as the collection, displaying Florentine, Arab and Moorish influences along with a neo Gothic interpretation of Genoa’s own distinctive building style. Given the expansive views and cool breezes, not to say its delightful café, it is no surprise a visit to its wide terraces has become a Sunday morning ritual for many Genoese.
However, the interior is as fascinating as the outside and the artefacts collected by the eponymous owner combined with the architecture and its lofty position help make it onto oldgreytravel’s list of “great small museums” of the world. The collection is beyond varied and ranges across a plethora of subjects from military arms, pre-hispanic artefacts from the New World, North American Indian artefacts and weavings, a carved Canadian totem pole, exhibits from Polynesia, Australia and New Zealand and traditional musical instruments from around the world. The building itself, the home of Enrico D’Albertis, is itself a wonder of romantic details and many of his personal artefacts are on display too, including the velocipede (the precursor of the bicycle) on which he set a speed record riding between Genoa and Turin.
The man who built the castle and collected most of the exhibits is the remarkable Enrico D’Albertis. Born into a wealthy Genoese family in 1846, he was an adventurer and explorer but one with an extraordinary eclectic nature. He was quite simply interested in everything. A love of sailing and the sea underpinned most of his journeys and he even built himself a tiny sailor’s cabin as one of the rooms in the castle which he could retire to and relive his great sea journeys. He thrice circumnavigated the world meeting, it seemed, everybody of interest and importance and ferociously collecting artefacts of every type, colour and hue. Many of these now form the core of the museum’s collection. He took some 21,000 photographs of his travels, wrote prodigiously and was a key figure in the cultural and scientific world of discovery and innovation at the time.
In 1866, he bought the crumbling C16 fortifications of Montegalleto, which were destined for demolition and built the castello we see today. He continued to live here until his death in 1932, when he bequeathed the property, its gardens and its contents to the City of Genoa. Now it presents an extraordinary, eclectic collection of objects in an extraordinary setting and, as a bonus, some of the best views in Genoa. No wonder the locals love this little gem of a museum.
Currently closed due to the pandemic, the Museum is normally open for visitors Friday to Sunday. The hilltop castello is best approached by the street lift, the Ascensore Montegalletto, which is an experience in itself. Save the legs for the walk down the steep hill.
