City Museum

The City Museum of Tivoli is located at Piazza Campitelli, in the heart of the historical center. This imposing building, formerly the house of the Mission of St. Vincent De' Paoli, consists of five floors capped with a belvedere. Positioned behind the former church of the Annunciazione, it's part of the same structural complex.

The first building dates back to the 1300s when the nobleman from Tivoli, Cecco Maligno, with the support of the Bishop of Tivoli, Cardinal Filippo Gezza de Rufinis, founded a hospital there intended for the care of the sick, the poor, and pilgrims, managed by the Brotherhood of the Annunciation. The current layout dates back to 1729 when, following the dissolution of the Brotherhood of the Annunciation with the approval of Pope Benedetto XIII, the Bishop of Tivoli, Placido Pezzangheri, allocated the remaining assets to the Missionaries of St. Vincenzo de' Paoli, who rebuilt the church, retaining the title of the previous one, and built their house, or the monumental Palace of the Mission. The design of the church, which has reached us in its original forms, was the work of Father Bernardo Della Torre, (Genoa 1676 - Tivoli 1749), provincial visitor and superior of the House of the Mission of Montecitorio.

The building's destiny intertwined with the secularization processes following the French Revolution. During the Napoleonic period, it saw a series of suppressions and reopenings, until the old order was restored after the Restoration of 1815. After a relatively calm period, the building was occupied in 1867 by Garibaldi's troops, during his attempt to capture Rome, concluding with the Battle of Mentana. Soon after, the definitive suppression occurred after 1870, following the capture of Rome, leading to the complex's acquisition by the State's Domain. Only then did the building, along with the attached church, find a new purpose as the Niccolò Tommaseo Juvenile Correctional Facility, from which the local term “I Discoli” (The Mischievous) used by Tivoli's inhabitants to refer to it, originated. The last war definitively marked the building's history. After the very brief stay, lasting just a few days, of the Command of the Ariete Division retreating to Tivoli after attempting to defend Rome from the attack of the German troops led by General Kesserling, following the Armistice of September 8, the building was used to house fifty-eight families of displaced persons and homeless, following the war disasters, especially the bombings of May 26, 1944.

The decision to allocate the Annunziata Complex as the site for the City Museum of Tivoli marks a true rebirth for the building, which thus resumes an important role in the city's life as a space dedicated not only to the conservation and promotion of Tivoli's significant historical, artistic, and archaeological heritage in the specific area of the Museum but also to the preservation of popular traditions by hosting multiple associations in the “House of Cultures” and to the holding of cultural events, in the former Church of the Annunciazione, where exhibitions, concerts, book presentations, debates, etc., take place.

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