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Mineralogical museum in Andora on the first floor of Palazzo Tagliaferro, with over 5,000 minerals and a room dedicated to Thor Heyerdahl.
From April 4, 2026
Sculptures and photographs by Monica Gorini devoted to stone as a living material, linked to memory and transformation. A site-specific installation grows over time with stones gathered from the public, through workshops and multisensory routes.
The museum is housed on the first floor of Palazzo Tagliaferro, a stately building of the late 18th to early 19th century, which the Comune di Andora bought in 2001 and returned to public use as a cultural centre. It is named after Luciano Dabroi (1933–2003), a scholar and collector from Andora who donated his collection of minerals and shells to the Comune so that it would become public heritage.
The collection exceeds 5,000 specimens. It includes gypsums (among them the “rosa del deserto”), azurites, malachites, quartz and fluorites from all over the world and, of particular scientific interest, Ligurian specimens such as the hopper-type quartz (“a tramoggia”) of the Val Nervia. Since 2017 one section has been dedicated to the collection of Harmen Schipper, a Dutch chemist, with Scandinavian and northern European minerals, set up in collaboration with the DISTAV of the Università di Genova. Five rooms (exploratory, Liguria, international, Schipper and silicates) guide visitors through the Strunz classification.
The museum also includes the Sala Thor Heyerdahl, dedicated to the Norwegian explorer who lived for a long time in Andora and in Colla Micheri.
Admission is free.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
By car: take the Andora exit of the A10 motorway, at the roundabout take the third exit, then go straight on (two roundabouts) as far as Palazzo Tagliaferro in Largo Milano.
Get directionsThe museum hasn’t published any information on this.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
| Guided tours | yes |
|---|---|
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | Free admission, no booking required. Guided visits for groups and school classes are available on request by phone; a study room is open to students during opening hours. |
