Museo del Risorgimento e dell'Età Contemporanea

Above the historic coffee halls of the Pedrocchi, Padua's Museum of the Risorgimento and Contemporary Age traces local and national history from the fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797 to the Italian Constitution of 1948.

Why it matters

Padua's university was a centre of patriotic politics, and the uprising of 8 February 1848—commemorated by the street's name—was one of the early revolts of the Italian wars of independence. The Pedrocchi's Sala Bianca still bears marks of shots fired by Austrian soldiers at students that day. The museum documents the long passage from the end of the Venetian Republic to the postwar Italian Republic, with Padua and its people at the centre of many events.

What to notice

The museum's four thematic itineraries cover the Risorgimento in Padua, the First World War in Padua, the Fascist period from the March on Rome through the war, and the Second World War and Liberation, under the title Eroi scomodi (“uncomfortable heroes”). The historic rooms of the Caffè Pedrocchi and the building's Piano Nobile form part of the museum setting, connecting the exhibits with the place where student protest unfolded.

Context and history

The museum belongs to Padua's civic museums and occupies rooms beside the Piano Nobile of the Stabilimento Pedrocchi, designed by Giuseppe Jappelli and opened in 1831 as a café. Located opposite the university, the building became a focal point of student protest; the uprising of 8 February 1848 began there. The museum's historical span runs from the fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797 to the Italian Constitution, which came into force on 1 January 1948. The Pedrocchi itself is part of the story it interprets.