Museo di S. Agostino (Museum of St. Augustine), Genoa

The Museum of Saint Augustine, nestled within a former 13th-century Augustinian convent, stands as Liguria’s premier museum of sculpture and architecture, showcasing an extraordinary collection of stonework, fresco fragments, and monumental art that spans from the 10th to the 18th century.

Thoughtfully renovated in the late 1970s and early 1980s under architects Franco Albini and Franca Helg, the museum transformed ancient cloisters and monastic spaces into luminous galleries that retain their Gothic charm. Visitors first wander through the triangular cloister before entering the former church, now repurposed as a bright, contemplative exhibition hall .

Inside, the displays range from detached medieval frescoes to today’s Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces. Noteworthy highlights include the funerary monument of Margherita of Brabant by Giovanni Pisano, Romanesque lions and capitals salvaged from vanished buildings, and major sculptures by Pierre Puget, Domenico Piola, and Luca Cambiaso. The museum also features works in ivory, wood, ceramics, and panel painting.