MEI – Museo nazionale dell'emigrazione italiana

About the museum

MEI is housed in the Commenda di San Giovanni di Prè, a complex whose construction began in 1180 at the wish of Guglielmo di Voltaggio, commander of the Knights of Malta. The site first welcomed pilgrims bound for the Holy Land and then the sick and poor of the city; Pope Urban V stayed there in 1367 and Urban VI in 1385–1386.

The complex comprises two superimposed Romanesque churches and a three-storey building with a convent and hospice. The upper church, dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist, has no façade and is still a place of worship. After the suppression of the religious orders in 1798, the spaces were expropriated and used for various purposes; from 2009 to 2020 the lower church and the convent housed the Museoteatro della Commenda.

Since 12 May 2022 these spaces have housed the Museo nazionale dell’emigrazione italiana (National Museum of Italian Emigration), part of the Mu.MA museum complex in Genoa. The route “Memoria e migrazioni” tells the story of emigration from the mid-19th century to the post-war period, and of internal migration from the South to the North and from the countryside to the cities.

Highlights

• “Memoria e migrazioni” route
• Italian emigration from the mid-19th century to the post-war period
• Internal migration from the South to the North
• Two superimposed Romanesque churches
• Convent and medieval hospice of the Commenda

Founded

2022

Visitors per year

approx. 3,184

Admission & discounts

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Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

The complex is located on Piazza della Commenda, in the Prè quarter, near Genova Principe railway station.

Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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