MUSEO CIVICO DI STORIA NATURALE DI MILANO

Description

Essentials about the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano in brief

Natural history fans should definitely see the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano (Municipal Natural History Museum of Milan) during a trip to Milan. Housed in a beautiful neoclassical building in the Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli, the museum displays a variety of flora and fauna exhibits from all parts of the world in over 20 halls. In addition, the museum owns an extensive collection of minerals and fossils.

The history of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano

The foundation of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale goes back to the initiative of the naturalist and collector Giuseppe De Cristoforis. De Cristoforis had bequeathed his collection to the city of Milan on the condition that a museum be established for it, to be directed by his friend Giorgio Jan. Jan also bequeathed his natural history collection to the museum. The Museum of Natural History was finally founded in 1838.

However, several decades passed before the building, located in the southeast corner of the Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli, was completed. The museum building was inaugurated only in 1893. During the bombing of Milan in World War II, the building was completely destroyed and half of the exhibits were lost. After the war, the museum was rebuilt and reopened to the public in 1952.

The exhibition of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano

The Museo Civico di Storia Naturale displays a variety of exhibits from the animal and plant world as well as minerals and fossils on an exhibition area of over 5,000 square meters. Particularly worth seeing are the approximately 100 dioramas that depict lifelike scenes of fauna and flora in various natural landscapes.

The highlight for most visitors to the Natural History Museum is the Besano Glacier fossil collection, which includes 200 million-year-old reptiles, as well as seven complete dinosaur skeletons and a reconstruction of a Triceratops. And beyond that, there is also the first Italian dinosaur Scipionyx samniticus to see.