Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Garibaldi died on 2 June 1882. The municipal authorities decided to place a commemorative plaque in memory of the hero of the "two worlds" on the wall of the entrace hall to the Town Hall.

Little more than four months earlier, the general, by now old and ill, had made his last visit to the city, a stop-over on his way to Palermo where he had accepted to take part in the celebration of the sixth anniversary of the Sicilian Vespars.

News of the hero's arrival in Naples spread quickly and a great crowd of boats made their way to the waters of Posillipo where Garibaldi, after being disembarked from the steamship "l'Esploratore" (The Explorer) and lowered onto a raft bya means of a wheeled bed, was taken to the landingplace of the nearby villa belonging to Colonel Fitzroy Donald MacLean.

He was visited there by the Mayor, Count Girolamo Giusso, who greeted himon behalf of the city - the city which demonstrated respect for the sufferings of the illustrious guest by respecting the exhortations of the Mayor to ensure that curiosity and desire to catch a glimpse of the hero did not disturb him.

On his name-day, 19 March, in spite of his ill health, asked to receive the homage of his ex-comrades-in-arms who had gathered to greet him, and he spoke to each one of them of his memories of them, thanking them for the part vthey had played.

In the meantime, on the same day the stretch of sea before the villa had become more and more crowded by craft of all kinds, full of people who wushed to greet the famous man and greet him affectionately.

Five days later, Garibaldi left the city to continue his journey to Sicily and towards the destiny that awaited him.

The Arts and Museums Heritage Service has custody of a sabre which is said to have belonged to the general who donated it to the city.

This weapon is typical of the kind widely used during the 19th century and has a blade which, from the hilt-guard to the point, measures 86 cm.

The simplicity of this sabre, if it did really belong to Garibaldi, respects the sobre and simple tastes of the general, who abhorred luxury and the ephemeral.