Museo Storico dell’arma dei Carabinieri (Museum of the History of the Carabinieri)

The Museo Storico was founded in 1925. The building hosting this museum dates back to the late nineteenth century. This small palazzo (a pleasingly harmonious construction) is, in terms of volumes and external appearance, as it was originally, except for the adornments on the perimeter which, in accordance with the design by architect Scipione Tadolini, were added by the Genio Militare (military engineers).

The museum was inaugurated in the presence of King Victor Emmanuel III on 6 June 1937. Among other items, as “…special depository for trophies and mementoes, documents and records attesting to the deeds of the Carabinieri in times of peace and war”, the museum conserves the Regie Patenti (royal deeds for the constitution of the corps of the Carabinieri), the first flag of the corps, uniforms, and paintings of the Carabinieri by nineteenth- and twentieth-century artists. The museum also hosts the Sacrario (Memorial) dedicated to the Fallen, and the Salone d’Onore (Hall of Honour) with plaster sculpture woks derived from the original moulds for the bronze statues in Turin at the national monument to the Carabinieri (Monumento Nazionale al Carabiniere) by the renowned sculptor Edoardo Rubino (1933), standing in the garden of the royal palace (Palazzo Reale).

The museum is more than just the items on display. It also conducts historical research into the records it holds, access to which is possible for researchers and scholars from all over the world. Through participation in national and international exhibitions and congresses, the museum organises teaching and similar events.