Museo Bicknell
The oldest Museum in the Western Liguria
Clarence Bicknell Library, built between 1886 and 1888 based on the project of the English architect Clarence Tait, was the first museum established in the Western Liguria; the structure, which includes an apsed hall with a raised chor, is characterised by architectural multi-purpose areas. The International Library, coming from the "English Lending Library", has been hosted here for many years: several concerts, expositions, reading and conferences, events with important English intellectuals took place here in the first years. Once Bicknell passed away, his nephew Edward Berry with his wife Margaret continued the activities in the Library. But after the death of his husband, Margaret decided to leave the Museum and the International Library to the young researcher Nino Lamboglia. He founded, in 1932, the archeological initiative called “Società Storico-Archeologica Ingauna” that was transformed in “Sezione Ingauna e Intemelia della R. Deputazione di Storia Patria della Liguria” (1935). The researcher from Liguria was aware of the importance of the library preserving historical, artistic and archeological sources of information; he continued to enhance and enlarge the library, strongly contributing to its reputation in Italy and internationally.
