Museo di storia naturale Faraggiana Ferrandi

A museum between two cultures. Le naturalistic collections from Novara have their roots in cultural and social history of the city, which in Napoleonic era hosted a prestigious High school equipped with important educational collections and of a botanical garden.

Subsequently, Catherine Faraggiana Ferrandi and his son Alexander, representatives of a cultured middle class with an interest in non-European civilisations, created in Meina Park one zoo and a museum, then donated to the city of Novara e refurbished in 1959 in the family mansion.

New acquisitions e renewed scientific approaches have restored vitality to an institution in which science and history intertwine naturally. Today, the museum preserves the second zoological collection of Piedmontwith approximately 2,500 copies of more than 1,200 species of vertebrates, supported by entomological collections that matter almost 10,000 insects.

The exhibition is completed by a selection of objects from the Ferrandi Ethnographic Museum and a recent multisensory journey that, thanks to tactile, sound and olfactory installations and devices, guarantees full accessibility of the rooms. The’absence of architectural barriers also makes the museum accessible to all, regardless of motor, visual or auditory skills.