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The Narrative
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The Narrative

From 5 December to 31 January 2026

Eremitani Museum

Eremitani Museum

Piazza Eremitani, 8, Padua

Open now from 09:00 to 19:00

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In the bicentennial year of the birth of the Civic Museum, another bicentennial cannot go unnoticed: the publication in Italian of the Narrative, the travel diary in which the Paduan Giovanni Battista Belzoni, an explorer considered by many as the father of Egyptology, recounted his extraordinary adventure in Egypt between 1815 and 1819. The first edition of the Narrative was published in English in London in 1820 by the publishing house of John Murray, which collaborated with prestigious names such as Lord Byron, Jane Austen, Walter Scott, and Ugo Foscolo. The book immediately became a bestseller and was published in multiple languages (in addition to English, in French, Flemish, and German). It took several years for the Italian edition to be released: it was only published in Milan in 1825 by Sonzogno, based on the French translation printed in 1823. A different edition, based on the English text, was published in Naples in 1851. The Milanese edition of 1825 was posthumous: in December 1823, Belzoni had died in the Kingdom of Benin while searching for the sources of the Niger River, then unknown, facing a hostile and treacherous environment. The giant from Padua, who had accomplished impossible missions in Egypt facing all sorts of dangers, was struck down by a sudden illness in that African land that was still mysterious to Europe. Belzoni had hoped that the Italian translation of his Narrative would be released shortly after the London edition, but all attempts failed.
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Piazza Eremitani, 8, Padua, Italy

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Opening hours

opens - closes last entry
monday 09:00 - 19:00
tuesday 09:00 - 19:00
wednesday 09:00 - 19:00
thursday 09:00 - 19:00
friday 09:00 - 19:00
saturday 09:00 - 19:00
sunday 09:00 - 19:00

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