Photo: Georges Jansoone (JoJan) · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Museo etnografico permanente del Ponente ligure «Franco Ferrero»

Ethnographic museum in the Clavesana castle at Cervo, with scenes of domestic, farming and seafaring life and a section on coral.

Opening hours unknownAdmission €2

Directions

About the museum

The collection is displayed in the 13th-century castle of Cervo, which belonged to the Marquesses of Clavesana, and recreates scenes and aspects of domestic life and of the farming, seafaring and craft activities of the old community between the 18th and 20th centuries. More than 2,000 finds document the hard work, skill and philosophy of reuse of past generations.

The visit combines educational value with the atmosphere of the rooms and the presence of life-size papier-mâché mannequins dressed in period clothing. Of particular interest are the materials linked to the gathering and working of coral, the main resource of Cervo’s old economy, when from May to September the “corallini” (coral divers) sailed between the Riviera, Corsica and Sardinia in search of the “oro rosso” (red gold). Among the rare pieces are some 18th-century bodices and a collection of 17th-century lamps known as “frasche”.

Highlights

Displays in the 13th-century Clavesana castle
More than 2,000 finds of domestic, farming and seafaring life
Papier-mâché mannequins in period dress
Materials on fishing and coral working
18th-century bodices and 17th-century lamps

Permanent exhibition

Vita domestica, agricola e marinara del Ponente ligure – Reconstructed rooms with mannequins in period dress, tools, furnishings and a section on fishing and coral working.

Visitors per year: approx. 19,035