Night-time exterior of the Carlo Carli Olive Museum

The Carlo Carli Olive Tree Museum

A passion that becomes history

Passion and tradition. Past and future. The Olive Museum was born from the great love of the Knight of Labor Carlo Carli for this precious tree. A strong, profound feeling that the creation of the Museum witnesses today and in the future as well.

Discover the Museum

The millennial history of the olive tree and its precious fruits unfold step by step along the captivating journey offered to visitors by the Museo dell’Olivo.

The Museum

A unique journey in both originality and content, telling the most significant moments in the history of the oldest tree cultivated by mankind.

The Treasures

Oil lamps, lamps, vessels, ampoules and cruets of every size, craftsmanship and value have been collected over years of dedicated research across all Mediterranean countries, thus becoming the “Treasures” of Carli’s Collection.

Your experiences at the Museum

The Museo dell’Olivo offers its visitors, both young and old, not only a fascinating tour of its rooms but also a range of fun and engaging activities to discover.

The Olive Museum tour

Eighteen rooms tell the story of more than 7,000 years of history, from the olive-growing civilisations of the fourth and third millennia BC to the present day. Works of art, rare archaeological finds and films guide visitors through the most fascinating stages of this millennia-old story.

Click on a room to begin the tour

Interactive map of the eighteen rooms of the Olive Museum

Carlo Carli Olive Museum photographic portrait of Cavaliere Carlo Carli

Our Origins

"Since Ancient Times, through the centuries of the Middle Ages and all the way to our Modern Times, the history of mankind living in the Mediterranean basin has intertwined with that of the olive tree. Two objects can be considered the symbol of all this: the oil lamp and the oil cruet. The collection of these items was started at the beginning of the 1900's by my family, and from this focus on the olive tree slowly began a wider collection of stories, uses, cultivation techniques and processes, trade, rites, poems and works of art. Through the decades, the Carli Collections expanded and diversified with the addition of many more artifacts, but always with the same curiosity, passionate interest and - above all - admiration for the olive tree. If you wish, you can follow us in this journey of discovery of the olive tree. And if, after visiting the museum, you too will have acquired admiration and respect for this magnificent and immortal tree, we will rejoice in having succeeded in explaining the reason, origin and purpose of the Olive Tree Museum."

Carlo Carli

Cavaliere del Lavoro

The Museo dell'Olivo Carlo Carli

Address:
via Garessio 13 - 18100 Imperia - Italy

Phone:
+39 0183 295762

Email:
info@museodellolivo.com

Opening hours:
Monday: closed
From Tuesday to Saturday: 10:00–13:00 / 15:00–18:00
Sunday: closed
LAST ADMISSION 45 MINUTES BEFORE CLOSING TIME

Closing days:
01/01/26 – 06/01/26 – 05/04/26 – 06/04/26 – 01/05/26 – 15/08/26 – 01/11/26 – from 16/11 to 25/12/26 (maintenance) – 31/12/26

Open on:
25/04/26 – 02/06/26

A large free parking area for coaches and cars is available within the complex.

Closed on Sunday and Monday