MuSel - Museo archeologico e della città

The MuSel, Sestri Levante's Archaeological and City Museum, occupies the third and fourth floors of Palazzo Fascie. Its collections bring together archaeological finds from the Tigullio and an account of the city's history from Roman Segesta Tigulliorum to the twentieth century.

Why it matters

Opened in 2013 and administered by the municipality, the MuSel is the Sestri Levante site in a two-museum system that also includes the MuCast in Castiglione Chiavarese. Its archaeological collections span the Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages, while the city-history section follows the changes that shaped Sestri Levante and its surrounding territory. The museum connects local history with material recovered from excavations across the Tigullio and its inland valleys.

What to notice

The archaeology section is arranged chronologically and includes finds from excavations across the Tigullio and the valleys of Recco, Fontanabuona, Aveto, Graveglia and Sturla. A boundary stone recovered near Monte Ramaceto in 2015 is interpreted as evidence of an imperial estate in the Roman-era countryside. Underwater archaeological material, much of it from San Michele di Pagana, sits alongside Roman and medieval finds from Sestri Levante, the ancient Segesta Tigulliorum. The city-history section combines documents from the State Archive of Genoa and municipal archive with photographs by Borasino, Andriesse, Merisio and Montanari. Its modern history includes emigration, war and Resistance, crafts, industry and the growth of tourism.

Context and history

Palazzo Fascie was renovated as a cultural centre, and the museum opened there in 2013. Its collections draw on four decades of supervised archaeological excavations, supplemented by documents and gifts from institutions and private citizens. The MuSel works with the MuCast, an archaeological and mining museum in the hinterland; together, the two sites connect the objects on display with the wider landscapes from which they came. The city-history galleries treat the twentieth century through archival documents and photographs as part of Sestri Levante's history.