The Location
This public MuDA location is an extraordinary historical museum of ceramic art and technology. It is an authentic ceramic factory, perfectly preserved within the ancient village of Albissola Marina. Inside you can visit several original rooms, where you can find the ancient wood-burning ovens and settling tanks for clay and glazes. The museum houses a selection of contemporary ceramic works from the civic collection, and a permanent exhibition of traditional Albisolese ceramic nativity scenes (macaques).
The factory began its activity in the early 1600s with the Conrado family, who among other things successfully established their own majolica factory also in France, in Nevers. In 1919 the factory resumed the ancient Roman name Alba Docilia and, thanks to the artistic direction of the painter Mario Gambetta, it once again established itself on the national market with a modern production. The factory closed definitively in 1982, after almost four hundred years of activity.
The Museum offers free and guided tours, thematic insights into ancient Ligurian traditions: from popular legends to the Albissola dialect, to the inevitable study of the workings and decorations of Albissola ceramics.