Collection of Military Memorabilia

The history of the Military Memorabilia Collection began in 1983, when the National Association of Soldiers and Veterans decided to donate the military memorabilia, previously stored in Piazza Umberto I, to the village of Marciana Marina. The collection was originally stored in the primary school but has since been enhanced and restored and is now housed in a small museum inside the Municipal Library.

This important collection, featuring artefacts from many periods of history, tells the story of events which many of the villagers took part in. The exhibition starts in the Garibaldi era and takes us through the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Italian colonial empire and the two World Wars, sharing powerful memories of those times. Visitors can admire rare helmets, Ethiopian leather shields, spears, sabres, photographs and medals, as well as a selection of weapons from various historical periods.

Marciana Marina’s collection of military memorabilia is one of those unique cases where a museum is born from a village’s common desire to remember and preserve its shared history and demonstrates the true meaning of community.