The Castello d'Albertis was the home of sea captain Enrico Alberto d'Albertis, and was donated to the city of Genoa on his death in 1932. D'Albertis designed the castle in the style of an architectural collage with a Gothic revival appearance inspired by palaces in Florence and castles of Aosta Valley. It currently houses the Museo delle Culture del Mondo (Museum of World Cultures), inaugurated in 2004.
Erected between 1886 and 1892 under the supervision of Gothic Revivalist Alfredo D'Andrade, the castle is located on the site of a 13th-century fortified area, which had been reinforced in the 16th century. Alberto not only based his design on the city's foundation, he incorporated and preserved the foundations of the bastion and one of the turrets.
The museum includes ethnographic and archaeological findings collected by both Enrico and Luigi Maria d'Albertis during their trips to Africa, America (from Canada to Tierra del Fuego), New Guinea and Oceania. There is a large number of weapons from Sudan and the Zambesi area Chinese spears and European halberds. There are several exemplars of Canadian and American plains indigenous people, made in buffalo and deer leather and covered by porcupine thorns; also findings belonging to the Maya civilization from Honduras are present.
It also exhibits models of ships and yachts, nautical instruments, photographs and the volumes of d'Albertis personal library.
A separate section dedicated to music (the Museo delle Musiche dei Popoli, 'Museum of Peoples' Music') exhibits musical instruments from the whole world.
References:Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.
The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.
These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.