MEI - Museo Nazionale dell'Emigrazione Italiana

Genoa was a major port of Italian emigration, and the MEI presents that history in the city where many departures began. Housed in the Commenda di San Giovanni di Pre, a medieval hospice for pilgrims, the national museum spreads sixteen multimedia areas across three floors, following emigration from before Unification to the crossings of the present day.

Why it matters

The building provides a historical setting for the museum. The Commenda of San Giovanni di Pre sheltered pilgrims and travellers bound for the Holy Land, and the Ministry of Culture dates its Ospitale to 1180; its very purpose — hospitality to people in movement — makes it the honest setting for a museum of migration. The museum opened here on 11 May 2022 and operates within the Mu.MA institute alongside the nearby Galata maritime museum.

The museum uses multimedia displays and first-person materials, including diaries, letters, photographs, video and archival documents, to present migration through individual accounts.

What to notice

The route is chronological with thematic expansions: sixteen areas run from emigration before Italian Unification through the great transoceanic departures to internal migration and today's arrivals. Ten highlights condense the narrative — among them a labyrinth, a memorial, sections on work and on contemporary migration. Documents, photographs and printed ephemera form a central part of the displays.

The Ministry of Culture describes the presentation as a museo-teatro, using technology to animate historical figures. A section on contemporary Italy combines demographic information with personal accounts; a memorial space forms part of the route.

Context and history

Genoa’s role as a port of mass emigration provides the setting for the museum’s national account. The Galata maritime museum also presents aspects of Italian emigration; MEI develops the subject as a dedicated institution. The Commenda’s medieval fabric has survived centuries of change around the port. The restored complex served as a heritage site before the museum opened.

MEI is listed as a national museum site and is operated within Genoa’s Mu.MA institution, which also runs Galata. Its programme includes temporary exhibitions, education and commemorative events.