Over the centuries, Liguria, and Imperia in particular, has built an important part of its identity around the cultivation of olives and the production of olive oil .

The landscape still tells the story of this tradition today through the typical strips supported by dry stone walls , the centuries-old olive trees and the hills that descend from the Ligurian Alps towards the sea.

The Carlo Carli Olive Museum was founded in 1992 by the Carli family, next to the historic headquarters of the Fratelli Carli company, founded in 1911.

It was Carlo Carli , driven by his passion for collecting, for his land and for the culture of the olive tree, who promoted the creation of this permanent exhibition.

The museum is housed in an elegant Art Nouveau building , built in the 1920s and originally used as the headquarters of Fratelli Carli.

Upon entering, the visitor is welcomed by the light that passes through a refined Liberty-style glass window , created based on the sketches of the designer Silvio Talman .

The journey starts from the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean, from the Phoenician origins to ancient Greece , imperial Rome and Spain.

Oil was not only used as a food: it also had cosmetic, medicinal, religious and lighting uses, becoming one of the most important products of the ancient world.

The numerous finds discovered in the Mediterranean, including amphorae and precious containers , testify to the existence of intense oil trade since ancient times.

Inside the museum it is also possible to admire the reconstruction of the hold of a Roman ship , in which amphorae containing oil were transported.

The Western Ligurian Riviera has produced significant quantities of oil for centuries. The olives were pressed in the traditional "gumbo," a mill that could be powered by either animal or hydraulic power.

The oil obtained was stored in characteristic jars and subsequently exported by sea to other Mediterranean countries.

The journey into the culture of oil continues through tastings and cooking classes , opportunities to get to know local products better and learn how to best enhance oil and local specialties.

One of the museum's most evocative reconstructions reproduces the hold of a Roman ship loaded with amphorae: a direct way to understand how oil was already one of the main commercial products of the Mediterranean two thousand years ago.