The museum dedicated to Anita Garibaldi — the Brazilian revolutionary who became one of the great fighters of the 19th century — occupies a handsome colonial building a few blocks from the waterfront. Anita was born Ana Maria de Jesus Ribeiro da Silva in Morrinhos (now Garopaba), but it was in Laguna that she first encountered Giuseppe Garibaldi and joined his revolutionary campaign to establish a separate republic in southern Brazil.
The museum holds portraits, documents, weapons, and personal effects relating to Anita's life, and contextualises her role in both the Farroupilha revolution in Brazil and the campaigns she fought in Uruguay and Italy. The building itself is one of the better-preserved examples of 18th-century colonial architecture in the historic centre. Signage is in Portuguese, but the story is dramatic enough to follow even without much of the language.