The Risorgimento and Resistance Museum of Vicenza is closely connected with the moral and cultural life and the traditions of the city and its territory, both because of the material it preserves and the location of the museum. In fact, the institution collects memories of important events and figures in Italian history that played a key role in the city's historical events. In 1948 Colle Ambellicopoli, site of Villa Guiccioli, the current home of the Museum, was the setting of the heroic resistance during which the people of Vicenza, together with volunteers from various regions of the peninsula, fought to defend the city.
The material preserved by the Museum is varied and interesting: printed publications, periodicals, newspapers, manuscripts, portraits, paintings, prints, diaries, proclamations and decrees, private documents, coins, medals and decorations, civil and military maps, blades and firearms, flags, and a range of military artifacts.
The documentation and relics in the collections offer an important insight into local, national and, in some cases, European events, covering historical episodes from Napoleon's first Italian campaign in 1796 to the end of the Second World War and the struggle for liberation (1945): a century and a half of events that repeatedly transformed the political, social, economic and moral face of Italy and Europe.
For the territory and the city of Vicenza, involvement in the First World War was all-encompassing, as evidenced not only by the significant number of men who took turns defending the Vicentine frontier, but also by the wartime events that made the Vicentine Prealps the scene of some of the biggest mountain battles, above all the offensive known as the Strafexpedition.
The Risorgimento Museum preserves a rich and varied collection of artifacts, such as weapons, uniforms, helmets and war equipment, but also objects of daily life at the front. There are also the personal memories of soldiers, such as letters and diaries from the front, in many cases donated by relatives of combatants. These collections have also been expanded thanks to the Museum's participation in two important European projects: Europeana and WORTHY - World Wars Towards Heritage for Youth.
Winter opening times:
from Thursday to Sunday: 10.00-17.00
Summer opening times (July-August):
from Thursday to Sunday: 10.00-14.00
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