The Risorgimento Section, inaugurated on 23 June 2007 and re-organized in March 2011 on the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy, exhibits objects and relics belonging to Andrea Rossi from Diano Marina, the "Pilota dei Mille", to whom the room is titled , and to General Nicola Ardoino, a Risorgimento fighter.

In the room you can see flags, uniforms (including the famous one of the Garibaldi's), medals, weapons, documents (letters, diplomas, etc.), as well as the famous "lantern" donated by Garibaldi to Rossi's daughter and used by the "hero of the two worlds" in the descent of the Aspromonte.

ANDREA ROSSI

Andrea Rossi was born in Diano Castello on 14 August 1814. Once he reached the necessary age he embarked as a hub on the "Muraglia" ship; in 1831, between Sicily and the island of Pantelleria, he met for the first time Giuseppe Garibaldi, second commander of the "Clorinda" ship.

Following the riots of 1834, to escape the death sentence, he went with Garibaldi to South America where they fight for the freedom of those peoples and where Rossi stands out in the battle of Sant'Antonio (Montevideo, 8 September 1846).

Back in Italy, in 1859 he fights with the "Hunters of the Alps" with the rank of second lieutenant and in 1860 participates in the expedition of the "Mille" as second commander of the Piedmont steamship and as a pilot of the expedition itself, planning the plan for the passage of the Strait of Messina.

In view of the services rendered, he was appointed captain of the frigate and on 30 November 1860 captain of the port of Messina; subsequently he became captain of the port of Trapani and later of La Spezia. After having participated in the war of 1866, he retired to Diano Marina where for a few years he was head of the Municipal Administration of the City.

He died on December 14, 1898.

NICOLÒ ARDOINO

Nicolò Ardoino was born in Diano Marina on October 14, 1804 in an illustrious and ancient family; the grandfather, "maire" of the Canton of Diano in the Napoleonic period, was awarded by Napoleon Bonaparte with the title of baron of the Empire while his father Stefano was part of the Emperor's Guard of Honor.

At eighteen he interrupts his law studies at the Royal University of Genoa to undertake a military career; in 1832, following the political events of that year, he abandoned his military service becoming a friend of Mazzini with whom he participated in numerous insurrectional movements for which he was condemned to death.

To avoid the arrest he took refuge first in France and then in Spain, where the dispute over the succession for the throne had turned into a civil war.

In Barcelona, ​​Nicolò Ardoino joins the Porto Hunters, taking part in numerous battles, in particular that for the conquest of the city of Cantavieja, for which he is assigned the knight's cross of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic and the commemorative medal of the battle.

In 1848 he returned to his homeland where he was enlisted in the Piedmontese army. He died in Diano Marina on March 4, 1895.