It has been closed for over ten years but now, after maintenance work, the Monserrato Railway Museum is ready for a new life. The reopening to the public comes after the interventions in the historic Arst headquarters in via Pompeo. For the construction sites, the Department of Local Authorities and Urban Planning of the Sardinia Region invested 530 thousand euros in the extraordinary maintenance of the heritage in 2010 and 350 thousand euros in 2019.
This new beginning, says the councilor for local authorities and urban planning Francesco Spanedda, is "much more than a building recovery: it is an act of recognition towards a fundamental part of our social and productive history. We wanted to give back to the community a place of memory and at the same time a new cultural and tourist resource for Monserrato and all of Sardinia". The museum, originally inaugurated in 1996, today welcomes visitors with a completely renovated exhibition path.
"The reopening of the Railway Museum in the historic Monserrato site represents a moment of great pride for Sardinia. It is much more than a museum: it is a living and engaging story of the history of our territory, crossed for decades by railway lines that have not only transported people and goods, but have connected countries, cultures, experiences and hopes", says the Transport Councillor, Barbara Manca . "The railways in Sardinia - she continues - are an integral part of our collective identity , a heritage that deserves to be rediscovered and valorised. The museum restores dignity and memory to an important piece of our past, which continues to dialogue with the present. Literature has also captured the charm of our tracks: just think of the words of David Herbert Lawrence in "Sea and Sardinia", where the deepest impressions of his journey on the Island are born precisely during the long and slow train crossing from Cagliari to Olbia. A century later, those tracks still tell stories".
Also present at the inauguration was the Councilor for Culture, Ilaria Portas. "The Railway Museum is a cultural heritage that restores value to the history of the territories, offering the community a living place of knowledge and the new generations an opportunity to rediscover how the progress of transport has contributed to transforming Sardinia and strengthening the bonds between people," she says. The recovery and enhancement of the Railway Museum is part of the Region's broader commitment to promoting the historical memory and identity of the territories, also in view of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of ARST, scheduled for 2026.
(Online Union)
