Compendio garibaldino di Caprera

Type:

Luoghi della cultura; Ente/Istituzione

Category:

History museums

The Compendio Garibaldino opened to the public in 1976 and it is the most visited museum in Sardinia. A large area, set in the uncontaminated nature of the island, holds the buildings and relics that belonged to Giuseppe Garibaldi – who lived here during the last 25 years of his life – or acquired after his death (1882).

The main residence is the “casa bianca” (white house), built in 1856-1857, which is made of seven connecting rooms: atrium, three bedrooms, study, dining-room and kitchen. One more room was added later, the “camera della morte” (room of the death), where Garibaldi used to receive his relatives and friends. Relics of his life when he was a combatant, personal mementos, objects of Garibaldi and his relatives and the original furniture recall the daily life of the hero, his last partner Francesca Armosino and their two sons, Clelia, the elder – who lived here until 1959, when she died – and Manlio, passionately fond of sea, suddenly dead of tuberculosis when he was 26.

The Compendio holds other buildings, too, as the “casa di legno” (wooden house), the “casa di ferro” (iron house) – that keeps the library of the General and his lineal descendants – the oil-press, the oven, the stable and the mill, all built by Garibaldi, his son Menotti and his closest collaborators. In the middle of the farm is a graveyard, with the granite tomb of the General, his third wife Francesca Armosino and his sons Manlio, Clelia, Rosa, Anita and Teresita.