The Museum of Natural History of the Mediterranean

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The Provincial Museum of Natural History of the Mediterranean

From the whale to the underwater world

The historical majesty of a villa that guards the secrets of the Mediterranean

The Provincial Museum of Natural History of the Mediterranean is located inside Villa Henderson, an ancient 18th-century residence part of a complex that extends for about 7,000 square meters. A fascinating journey into the nature of the Mediterranean divided into different structures immersed in a large “English-style” park which, among fountains and centuries-old trees, includes a sea room, an exhibition center, an invertebrate room, a botanical garden, a room dedicated to temporary exhibitions and a well-stocked scientific library.

As soon as you enter, you will immediately be greeted by a breathtaking surprise: the sea room. An architecture that recalls the shape of a large cetacean, inside which you will be immersed in a true hymn to the immensity of the depths. The highlight is undoubtedly the impressive skeleton of a whale measuring about 20 meters. A majestic creature, suspended as if in flight, placed in the center of a large room where, amidst seagrass meadows and underwater caves, you can admire some large dioramas that reproduce the habitats of various marine species: cetaceans, bottlenose dolphins, turtles, fish, birds, and typical Mediterranean creatures such as the Monk Seal.

Inside the exhibition center, which also includes a large auditorium and a fascinating planetarium, you will instead be immersed in the stages of human evolution and the history of the territory through an itinerary of casts, settings, and artifacts from the Livorno mountains. Equally interesting are the rooms dedicated to natural flight, comparative anatomy, and vertebrate zoology.

During your visit, be sure not to miss the invertebrate room, a building located at the back of the villa that offers a dual exhibition path: the first dedicated to marine invertebrates, the second to terrestrial arthropods.

It is also worth mentioning the active scientific research and dissemination activities carried out by the Museum of Natural History, which organizes a large number of events, thematic exhibitions, study groups, and educational activities for schools every year.

Useful informations

Who:

Alone, Children and families, Groups, In pairs, With friends
When:

Autumn, Spring, Summer, Winter
What:
Other characteristics

Indoors, Outdoors, Reachable by public transport, Without reservation