Museo dell'Olivo "Carlo Carli"

About the museum

The Museo dell'Olivo grew out of the passion for the olive tree of Carlo Carli, Cavaliere del Lavoro (Knight of Labour) and head of the company Fratelli Carli in Imperia. The Carli collections were started by his family at the beginning of the 20th century with oil lamps and oil cruets and, over the decades, have expanded to include works of art, agricultural tools and evidence of the uses, cultivation techniques, trade and rites connected with the tree. The museum opened in 1992 in Oneglia, in the company complex.

The lamps, oil lamps, vases, flasks and oil cruets gathered over years of research in all the countries of the Mediterranean form the core of the collection's “treasures”. Alongside them are displayed archaeological finds, works of art and work tools.

The route runs through eighteen rooms and tells the story of over 7,000 years of the relationship between humans and the olive tree, from legend and botany to the voyages of oil in the ancient Mediterranean (the Orient, Greece, Italy and Spain), through the terraced landscapes of Liguria, the Mediterranean diet, oil mills powered by animals and by water, and the oil trade. Outside, in the garden, there are centuries-old olive trees and oil mills of different periods; next to the garden a modern oil mill of the company operates, visible through the windows, only during the olive harvest.

Highlights

• Eighteen rooms covering 7,000 years of olive history
• Section of a fossil wild olive trunk 12 million years old
• Collection of oil lamps, vases and oil cruets from the Mediterranean
• Oil mills powered by animals (1700) and by water (1800)
• Lithographed tins of Ligurian olive oil from the 19th century
• Garden with centuries-old olive trees and a children's workshop

Permanent exhibition

• Percorso permanente del Museo dell'Olivo – Eighteen rooms on the history of the olive tree and its oil, from ancient Mediterranean finds to traditional oil mills.

Founded

1992

Operated by

Fratelli Carli S.p.A.

Admission & discounts

Free admission also for tourist guides and accompanying teachers, law enforcement and military personnel, journalists with a press card, university lecturers and directors of museums or heritage bodies.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: no information
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The site indicates reserved access for persons with disabilities and a special route for blind and visually impaired visitors.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations

The “laboratOLIO” workshop for children with Professor Olivio and a treasure hunt in the museum, with a notebook and map handed out at the entrance; family ticket.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

The complex houses the Emporio Fratelli Carli, where the company's products can be tasted during a lunch by reservation (tel. +39 0183 711 493).

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit