Galleria storica dell’Istituto Nautico Leon Pancaldo

Opened in 2009, the Historic Gallery of the Leon Pancaldo Nautical Institute occupies the school’s historic premises in Savona. Its collection includes ship models, navigation and laboratory instruments, a meteorological station and a historic planetarium.

Why it matters

The institute that grew out of Savona's old nautical school has trained seafarers since 1856, and its historic gallery was created to gather, restore and safeguard the teaching equipment — instrumentation, machinery, laboratory apparatus, antique books and memories — that a century and a half of maritime education accumulated. The Ministry of Culture's official description records the inauguration in May 2009 on the top floor of the institute's historic seat and notes that the school, across its long history, formed thousands of students and carried Savona's name around the world.

What to notice

The 500-square-metre collection includes the gallery of diploma portraits spanning the institute's history; photographs of the port of Savona in the early 1900s; models of historic ships; historic physics and electrotechnics laboratory equipment; onboard instruments and gear; model marine engines, including steam engines; and technical drawings executed by students in the 1950s and 1960s. A separate room is dedicated to port operators. The meteorological station preserves nineteenth-century instruments. The historic planetarium reflects the role of astronomy in nautical education. A study-library of antique volumes completes the circuit.

Context and history

Founded as a municipal nautical institute in 1856, the school took the name of the navigator Leon Pancaldo. Its gallery documents the history of maritime education and the school’s role in Savona’s port city. The historic seat on Piazza Cavallotti also houses the local classical lyceum. Teachers, alumni and the school administration assembled the gallery, whose collection reflects the port and its maritime community.