The Museum

Carlo Giulietti, a lawyer, local administrator and philanthropist, was ‘one of the most passionate devotees of national history.

Born into an important Casteggio family (his grandson was the explorer Giuseppe Maria Giulietti), he graduated in law in 1850, and for seventeen years was vice-prector of Casteggio. Between 1854 and 1855 he was a member of the health commission, when he had to deal with a serious cholera epidemic; he was then mayor of his town between 1856 and 1860, very troubled years (the Battle of Montebello was fought near Casteggio, preceded by the Austrian occupation).

However, his contribution to local history was no less than his administrative and philanthropic activities, especially from 1888 onwards. He helped save from probable dispersion the numerous archaeological finds from Clastidium (the Roman Casteggio) that were coming to light precisely at that time, as the village expanded over the area of theemporium and necropolis of the ancient city. He collected them in a private museum, which was visited by distinguished scholars, and then allocated them to the archaeological collections of the Pavia Civic Museums, of which they still form no small part (Casteggio Hall).

From his research on medieval and modern documents preserved in local, civil and ecclesiastical archives, he drew a huge amount of information that he illustrated in his historical works.