Museo del Risorgimento e della Resistenza
Civic museum in Ferrara on the Risorgimento, the World Wars and the Resistance, now closed pending a new display at Palazzo Pico Cavalieri.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The origins of the museum go back to the participation of the municipality of Ferrara in the 1884 General Exhibition in Turin and the 1888 Great Emilian Exhibition in Bologna. Private citizens and the Deputazione ferrarese di storia patria gathered an initial nucleus of relics and documents, housed in rooms on the ground floor of Palazzo dei Diamanti, where the Museo del Risorgimento was inaugurated on 16 March 1903.
During the Ventennio (the Fascist years) the institution went through a long period of neglect and closure, made worse by the bombing of 1944, which destroyed part of its heritage. The municipality refounded it as the Museo del Primo e del Secondo Risorgimento, and on 25 April 1958 the historic site reopened with a new section devoted to the Resistance.
The collections include objects, weapons, uniforms, flags, prints and works of art documenting the French occupation, the participation of Ferrara’s patriots in the Risorgimento, the First World War, the colonial wars and the Resistance. The museum is currently closed for restoration work and will be re-displayed at Palazzo Pico Cavalieri in Corso Giovecca; in the meantime the heritage is being restored and the documentary fund is being reorganised and digitised. The archive materials, held at the Centro di Documentazione di Porta Paola, cannot be consulted from 9 April to 30 November 2026.
Key themes
- Relics, weapons, uniforms and flags of the Risorgimento
- Section on the Resistance in Ferrara
- Library and archive fund at the Centro di Documentazione di Porta Paola
- Future home at Palazzo Pico Cavalieri
Permanent exhibition
- Museo del Risorgimento e della Resistenza (chiuso per restauro) – Collections on the Risorgimento, the World Wars and the Resistance, currently not open to visitors.
- Founded
- 1903
- Operated by
- Comune di Ferrara – Musei Civici
- Visitors per year
- approx. 23,219
Admission & discounts
The museum is closed for restoration work; no reopening date has been given.
Accessibility
The museum is closed for restoration work; no reopening date has been given.
Kids & families
The museum is closed for restoration work; no reopening date has been given.
Getting there & parking
The museum is closed for restoration work; no reopening date has been given.
Amenities & dining
The museum is closed for restoration work; no reopening date has been given.
Events & venue rental
The museum is closed for restoration work; no reopening date has been given.
