Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano

Founded in 1838 Thanks to the donation of the collections of Giuseppe De Cristoforis and Giorgio Jan, the Natural History Museum boasts the distinction of being the oldest civic museum in the city. Its premises, located in the enchanting setting of the Indro Montanelli‘ Public Gardens’, was built between 1892 and 1907 to a design by Giovanni Ceruti, who was inspired by the majestic architectural models of the great European nature museums of the time.

The Exhibition Route

With a heritage of over 4.5 million, the Museum combines scientific research activities with an exhibition offering that runs through 23 halls on two floors:

• Ground floor: The itinerary begins with the renovated section of Mineralogy, and then into the Palaeontology. Here, the visitor discovers the secrets of fossilisation and the evolution of vertebrates, from the first fish to the conquest of land and sky by reptiles, to the exciting natural history of man. The floor is closed by rooms dedicated to the Zoology of Invertebrates, with a focus on molluscs, crustaceans and insects.
• First floor: The journey continues with the Zoology of Vertebrates. The highlight of this section are the spectacular dioramas, unique in terms of realism and detail, reconstructing major global ecosystems: from tropical forests to polar ice, from savannahs to the seabed.

Research and Services

The Museum is also a centre of excellence for study, thanks to a Specialised library which houses 160,000 volumes, historical archives and over 3,200 scientific journals. A dedicated bookshop completes the offer.