Museo del Risorgimento

Lucca's Risorgimento Museum presents documents and objects tracing the local community's contribution to Italian unification and the First World War.

Why it matters

The collection records how people from Lucca participated in the political movements that united Italy. Founded by local veterans after 1918, it preserves a regional perspective on events from the Carbonari conspiracies through unification and the Great War.

What to notice

A Carbonari flag associated with 1821 and the Five Days of Milan in 1848 anchors the collection. A red shirt associated with Garibaldian Tito Strocchi, uniforms, weapons, letters, prints and everyday objects connect national events with local lives. Portraits of Mazzini, Garibaldi and Anita accompany material on Antonio Mordini, Luisa Amalia Paladini and Cleobulina Cotenna.

Context and history

After the First World War, veterans from Lucca and its province began collecting documents and objects related to Italian unity. The collection grew into a civic museum in the Palazzo Ducale. Lucca was an independent republic, later a principality, and was annexed to Tuscany in 1847. The collection follows local participation in the Risorgimento through the First World War.