Napoleonic Mills House, Historic house museum in Portoferraio, island of Elba, Italy
The Museo Nazionale delle Residenze Napoleoniche Palazzina dei Mulini is a historic house museum in Portoferraio, on the island of Elba, run by the Italian Ministry of Culture. Its rooms still hold the original furnishings, wall paintings by court painter Antonio Vincenzo Revelli, and personal objects from the early 1800s.
Napoleon lived in the Palazzina dei Mulini from May 1814 to February 1815, after being exiled to Elba following his abdication. During those months he worked to modernize the island, improving roads, encouraging farming, and developing mines before leaving for France in his final campaign.
Napoleon arranged the Palazzina dei Mulini to feel like a small court, complete with a personal library. That library held close to 2,300 books on history, literature, and philosophy, reflecting how much he valued reading even during his time away from power.
The museum sits in the center of Portoferraio and is easy to reach on foot from most parts of the old town. It is closed on Tuesdays, so plan your visit for any other day of the week to avoid disappointment.
Although Napoleon spent only ten months on Elba, he brought nearly 2,300 books with him, including works by ancient Greek and Roman authors as well as plays by Molière. Some of those volumes still carried the imperial crest on their covers.
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