On the Hill of Montegalletto, purchased by Captain D'Albertis as the future site of his castle in 1886, originally there was a small house. One wall of this original dwelling was preserved, “framed”, and given the title "Cronache di Montegalletto". It still bears the signatures and inscriptions of guests and friends who visited the castle, artistically arranged around a piece of text written by the Captain himself to commemorate various stages of castle's construction and the life within the new building.

As the words inscribed on the floor, "Otio et Amicis" or "Free time and friends", still suggest to anyone who enters the museum today, the entire castle was used as a “representative” residence; the area on the ground floor was, in the Captain’s day, intended as a museum, a place to welcome friends and provide space for leisure. During their visit, guests could spend time in the park, on the towers, and on the terraces of the complex.

Chronicles of Montegalletto1

• March 6th, 1886: Purchase of Montegalletto,
• August 5th, 1886: Placement of first foundation stone foundation stone (south-west corner of the tower), pylon in the cistern of the ancient tower
• February 9th, 1887: thermometer in the night -4 ° 1/2 C
• February 2nd, 1887: earthquake (6.20 a.m.)
• October 5th, 1889: move to this cottage
• October 11th:  demolition of the first house

• For the first time, at 8 am on 1 January 1889, the flag of Genoa was raised on the battlements of the medieval building.
• Today, February 7th, visited by the maestro Giuseppe Verdi
• March 19th, death of the sculptor Agostino Allegro
• September 20th, Italian flag raised on the tower
• January 1st, 1890, I slept in my new apartment                           

(1) these notes were written on this piece of the original cottage wall

Montegalletto

house of the sun

nest of zephyrs

dream of the dawn

Still on her walls

the silent cannons and bombs

and the hidden doves

with their mournful calls

From this magnificent 

crenellated cove

we toast a most adored uncle

May the wine overflow

from its chalice

to water pheasants and oysters

and whiskered surmullets

Glory to the dauntless

commander, that helmsman

whomst lofty, without reserve,

the seas and its whirls

dared to traverse

Uncle, God grant you

many years more

you for whom our heart beats, 

forevermore. 

Dictated by his brother Domenico and read by his son Filippo on the occasion of the inaugural lunch, January 5th, 1890   

• January 9th flag at half mast for the death of prince Amedeo of the House of Savoia
• February 15th first vehicle arrived in the square of Montegalletto m. 105 (from the sea)
• Domenico and Enrico
• 1st-2nd of March thermometer marks –4 ° C
• May 23rd, 1890: definitive move to my new apartment; demolition of the old cottage to the south west to which this wall belonged
• Today March 24th, 1894 Giuseppe Verdi reported his delight in having seen and admired the wonders of Montegalletto
• June 20th, 1898, Camillo Boito
• My warmest thanks to my friend Captain Enrico D’Albertis for the kind welcome you extended in this charming location, where I find everything worthy of admiration, Vice Admiral E. Morin
• Grateful for the dear friendship of my colleague and old disciple Commander Enrico d'Albertis, I always return to Montegalletto, which has captured the poetry of travel and of the sea,  with renewed admiration. Comm. Admiral G.B. Magnaghi
• I count the days spent in Montegalletto among the best in my life. With deep emotion, I always admire the distinguished monument with which E.A. D'Albertis has honoured his homeland, I admire the daring navigator, the brilliant writer ... but above all I love his heart, and the man to whom I am bound by indissoluble bonds of gratitude, of unalterable esteem, of deep affection. Montegalletto 16-10-98, Giacomo Doria
• With warm affection and eternal admiration. 5.X.1909. Enrico H. Giglioli
• Coelum ipsum petimus, 27-XI-912, Giuseppe Garassini Garbarino, aviator pilot, with affectionate veneration
• Moved by so much beauty. 06/12/25, Flavia Steno

And finally, to close the dedications of those who visited the castle during the captain's life, it is worth highlighting the comments of Senator Broccardi, Podestà of Genoa, who, on March 4th, 1932, the day after the captain's death, after having of the castle's being gifted to the city in the Captain's will, could not fail to leave an inscription in the Chronicles of friends which read "with devotion and gratitude".

Of the other signatures and dates that intersperse the inscriptions we have mentioned (and are still decipherable) are those by Stefano Canzio, Vittorio Scialoja, Georg Schweinfurth, the Empress Victoria Federico, the "Ranee" by Sarawak Margaret Brooke ...