Casa natale di Sandro Pertini

The birthplace of Sandro Pertini, the seventh President of the Italian Republic and one of the most celebrated Italian politicians of the 20th century, is preserved as a museum in Stella San Giovanni. The house retains its original furniture and personal effects — Pertini's pipe collection, photographs, correspondence, and documents relating to his long political career — and gives a vivid picture of the man and his times.

Pertini was born here in 1896 and lived in Stella until his political career took him away. His story — socialist agitator, fascist prisoner, resistance fighter, president — encompasses almost the entire arc of modern Italian political history. The museum can only be visited at weekends, though it is visible from outside with an inscription concerning his mother on the wall. The setting in the hamlet of San Giovanni, among wooded Ligurian hills, is quietly beautiful.

Practical: Weekend visits only; confirm times with the Musei Pertini-Perrando office. Entry is free or by donation.

things to do sight museum
A story
Pertini was one of the most remarkable figures of 20th-century Italy. He was a socialist and anti-fascist activist imprisoned by Mussolini from 1929 to 1943 — he spent much of the fascist era in prison or on internal exile. He later joined the resistance and became a commander in northern Italy. When he was elected president in 1978, at the age of 82, he refused the official limousine and shocked the Republic by riding in an ordinary car. He served until 1985 and was consistently rated in polls as the most beloved Italian president.