The people of Ravenna who took part in the uprisings, the wars of independence, as well as the Garibaldian events, donated to the municipal administration the memorabilia in their possession, whether weapons, uniforms, accoutrements, graphic works and paintings or personal letters and documents, all testimonies of heartfelt popular participation, to which over time were added mostly paper documents collected by those “guardians” of Ravenna’s documentary memories, such as Primo Uccellini first and then Silvio Bernicoli.
The Museum of the Risorgimento of Ravenna was set up in 1997 with the Risorgimento relics from Ravenna presented at the 1904 Romagna Regional Exhibition, mostly documents, edicts, letters, drawings, and prints originally used only on important occasions, such as the 50th anniversary (1932) of Garibaldi’s death and the centenary of annexation to Piedmont (1959).
Today’s arrangement therefore represents the first stable placement of the collection, enhanced by the opening of a section dedicated to “Garibaldi and Ravenna – between History and Myth” (1848-1849) where the weapons and cloak of the Hero of the Two Worlds, the alleged boots of Anita, and the stool used by Pius IX are kept.
