La Spezia makes its museums free for all residents of the province

For the first time in its history, La Spezia is opening the doors of its civic museums free of charge to all residents of the entire province. The decision was approved by the council led by Mayor Pierluigi Peracchini and represents one of the most significant cultural policy initiatives adopted in recent years by the city administration and beyond, with the aim of making the area’s historical, artistic and cultural heritage increasingly accessible to the community.

The measure was presented last June 1 at a press conference by Mayor Pierluigi Peracchini, Cultural Services Director Rosanna Ghirri and Andrea Marmori, director of the “Amedeo Lia” Civic Museum and coordinator of the city’s Civic Museums system. The measure in fact introduces free access to museums for all residents of the province of La Spezia, greatly expanding the number of beneficiaries and strengthening the role of cultural institutions as places of collective participation and growth. The initiative will come into effect on an experimental basis and will remain active until the end of 2026. It is therefore a measure that allows citizens of La Spezia and the province to freely access the artistic, historical, archaeological and ethnographic heritage housed in the city’s main museum venues.

The “Amedeo Lia” Civic Museum, the Civic Museum of the Seal, the “Ubaldo Formentini” Archaeological Museum housed inside the San Giorgio Castle, the “Giovanni Podenzana” Civic Ethnographic Museum and the Palazzina delle Arti, which includes the permanent exhibition dedicated to Agostino Fossati, will be affected by the measure. A set of institutions that represents one of the main cultural heritages of the city and tells, through different collections and exhibition routes, the history, art and traditions of the territory of La Spezia.

According to what the city administration explained, the measure is part of a broader path initiated in recent years and aimed at making culture one of the pillars of city development. It is a path that has seen the enhancement of the museum system, the promotion of exhibitions and events, the strengthening of educational and didactic activities, and a series of interventions to restore and reorganize the public cultural heritage.

In presenting the measure, Mayor Pierluigi Peracchini stressed the strategic value of the decision. “With this historic measure,” declared the first citizen, “we open the doors of the civic museums free of charge to residents of the Province of La Spezia, enabling daily enjoyment of our city’s cultural heritage and consolidating the link between the city’s cultural spaces and the life of the community. An initiative that is part of a broader path pursued in recent years, made of rediscovering one’s roots through the enhancement of civic museums and the recovery and return to the city of long-forgotten historical sites. Constant work that has made it possible to strengthen the link with the history of the area and give citizens a renewed sense of pride in their cultural heritage.”

The decision is interpreted by the administration not as a simple reduction in the cost of access to cultural sites, but as a precise cultural policy choice. Indeed, the stated goal is to encourage greater citizen participation in the city’s cultural life, making civic heritage an increasingly shared and experienced asset in everyday life.

Free admission will enable residents to attend museums not only during special events or extraordinary initiatives, but also as an integral part of their urban experience. In this way, museums are conceived as open places, capable of accompanying the life of the community and offering ongoing opportunities for knowledge, insight and discussion. Free access will enable families, students, young people, adults and the elderly to visit museum facilities more frequently, bringing them closer to the artistic, archaeological and historical-documentary evidence that tells the story of the evolution of the city and province. The idea is to make museums become spaces for meeting and lifelong learning, capable of engaging different audiences and responding to diversified cultural needs.

The initiative also represents the culmination of an administrative journey that has seen culture take on an increasingly central role in urban development strategies. In recent years, in fact, the Municipality of La Spezia has invested in strengthening the cultural offer through exhibitions, educational programs, popular activities and interventions to enhance the existing heritage, with the aim of making museums active tools of social growth as well as tourist attractors. The new measure aims to further consolidate this direction by fostering a more direct relationship between citizens and cultural venues. In this perspective, museum heritage is not only considered as a set of works and collections to be preserved, but as a living and dynamic resource, capable of contributing to the construction of a more aware and participatory citizenship.

At a time when cities are being called upon to rethink the relationship between citizens and public heritage, the La Spezia administration’s choice thus aims to transform museums into places that are ever closer to people’s daily lives. In fact, a more accessible museum system, according to the vision expressed by the municipality, contributes to building a community that is more aware of its history, more open to knowledge, and more attentive to the protection and enhancement of its cultural riches.

La Spezia makes its museums free for all residents of the province

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