SICILY LANDING HISTORICAL MUSEUM

The museum, located in the Ciminiere exhibition complex, covers three floors for a total of 3,000 square meters.

The layout is a narrative of the events that in the summer of 1943 led to the landing of Allied troops on the coast of southeastern Sicily, between Licata and the city of Syracuse, resulting in the Cassibile armistice and the unconditional surrender of the Italian army.

The museum, with its installations, is aimed at a wide audience even without historical knowledge; the primary objective is to propose to the user the reconstruction of the living conditions that the population experienced during the ?total war?, which characterized that summer.

The museum is accessed through a scenic reproduction of a small town square of the time. The sound in the background recalls the atmosphere of the 1940s; it continues with photographic texts and films illustrating the fighting that took place and the terrible bombings that Palermo, Catania and Messina suffered as an anticipation of the landing. Among the exhibits, there is no shortage of memorabilia, uniforms, weapons and original equipment used during the wartime actions.

On the second floor are realistic wax statues of some of the historical figures of the period; also on the second floor, it is possible to discover how a Red Cross field hospital functioned. The reconstruction of a tent with the leading characters who signed the Cassibile Armistice is the focus of the museum.