Palazzo Olginati

The Historical Museum in Como is located in Palazzo Olginati, where, as the commemorative plaque on the façade recalls, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian general, politician and natinalist, stayed in 1866, the museum houses numerous memorabilia dedicated to the Risorgimento movements of 1848-49, 1859 and the wars of the 20th century, as well as an ethnographic section.

Palazzo Olginati

The Giuseppe Garibaldi Historical Museum is housed in Palazzo Olginati, which dates back to the fifteenth century; the property passed from the De Curte family, under which it was built, to the counts of Torre di Rezzonico up to the Olginates family.
Luigi Olginati, member of the Municipal Commission for the formation and conservation of the Civic Museum, commissioned the renovation works in 1853, trying to recover an ancient allure; since then the building has maintained its current appearance, soberly elegant on the outside and richly decorated on the inside.
The building, together with the furnishings and furnishings in the building, was donated to the City of Como thanks to the legacy of the last descendant of the Olginati family, Carlotta, on condition that there was "a museum to be named after Giuseppe Garibaldi in memory of the stay of the General in 1866.
The Museum was inaugurated in 1932 in the presence of General Ezio Garibaldi, nephew of the nationalist hero. A few years later he joined the Palazzo Giovio with two covered passages, thus giving life to a unitary exhibition itinerary with the Archaeological Museum.
The exhibition of objects of the Risorgimento began in 1884, when numerous relics were collected among the citizens of Como and placed inside the Civic Museum, then placed in the premises of the Liceo Volta in Como. When, in 1897, the Palazzo Giovio museum was inaugurated, the materials were housed in the Risorgimento hall.
In 1932 the Risorgimento collections were transported from Palazzo Giovio to Palazzo Olginati, and gave rise to the new Historical Museum, set up in the rooms on the main floor.