Not simple objects that belonged to Giuseppe Garibaldi , but direct testimonies of his private life, his personal relationships and the world that revolved around Caprera .
Since yesterday, Saturday, September 26th, three precious relics of the General have returned to the island after more than 150 years, becoming the centerpiece of the exhibition "Return to Caprera," which opened yesterday at the Garibaldi Compendium during the European Heritage Days. Their display will run until January 15, 2027.
These are Garibaldi's personal dressing gown and two of his caps, objects of particular historical and documentary value because they convey an intimate dimension of the Hero of the Two Worlds, far from his public and military one.
Their significance is made even stronger by the connection with the engineer Edoardo Barberini , a Garibaldian volunteer, close friend, and trusted collaborator of the General. It was Barberini who designed and built the windmill, the bread oven, and the apiary on Caprera, making a tangible contribution to the project of an independent and efficient agricultural residence.
Garibaldi appointed him his trusted agent and also entrusted him with tangible signs of their friendship. Among these, the dressing gown preserves a handwritten dedication of extraordinary human value: "More than the object, appreciate the friendship of the donor." A phrase that transforms the heirloom into a personal document, capable of directly revealing the depth of the relationship between the two.
After the death of Barberini and his wife, the assets passed to a sister-in-law and were kept for generations until their current heirs, the Floris family of Nuoro, who lent them.
Their return to Caprera thus takes on a significance that goes beyond the museum exhibition: it is the recomposition, after more than a century and a half, of an authentic fragment of Garibaldi's history.
Today, Sunday, both Caprera museums will be open from 10:15 am to 6 pm, with last admission at 5 pm. The exhibits will run until January 15, 2027.
