Photo: Parma1983 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Museo del merletto

Municipal museum on the lower floors of Villa Tigullio with over 1,400 pieces of lace and thousands of designs, largely from the Rapallo lace workshop Zennaro.

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About the museum

The Museo del merletto di Rapallo is housed on the lower floors of Villa Tigullio, a former patrician residence owned by the municipality in the Luigi Casale park, which also houses the International Civic Library on its upper floors. The first three rooms on the ground floor were opened to the public in 1990; in 1997 five more rooms were added on the basement level.

The collection originated from a donation made to the municipality in the 1970s by the Lions Club of Rapallo, after the closure of the lace and embroidery workshop founded by Mario Zennaro in 1908 and active until 1968. That company had brought Rapallo lace to national and international markets, winning several awards. Zennaro himself had gathered rare fabrics and laces during his lifetime; these, together with samples, cartoons and designs from the workshop, now belong to the museum, and other collections were donated when the new rooms opened.

The heritage includes over 1,400 pieces from the 16th to the 20th century and around 5,000 designs and cartoons used for production. The route extends over two floors with eight rooms: upstairs is a large lace panel from the 1960s, 8.10 m long, designed by Lele Luzzati, with the masks of the Commedia dell'Arte, made for the lounge of a cruise ship; downstairs the pieces are arranged by technique and place of production, among gold and silver laces, christening gowns, caps, parasols and period dresses.