Two Day Free Admission at Botanical Garden, La Specola & Other Science Museums

 

To commemorate the 250th anniversary of Florence’s natural history museum, La Specola, there will be free entry on February 22 and 23 to the University of Florence’s four museums: the museum of Palaeontology on via Giorgio La Pira, the museum of Anthropology on via del Proconsolo, the Botanical Gardens on via Pier Antonio Micheli, and La Specola on via Romana 17. 

La Specola was opened on February 21, 1775, by the Grand Duke of Tuscany Pietro Leopoldo to publicly display the large collection of natural curiosities such as fossils, animals, minerals, and exotic plants acquired by several generations of the Medici family. It was the first European science museum to open its doors to ordinary citizens and aimed to educate Florentines in science and the laws of nature. Since the Medici, over ten million specimens have been acquired covering all scientific disciplines, from botany to zoology, mineralogy, palaeontology, anthropology, ethnology, anatomy, and chemistry, and includes the largest anatomical wax collection in the world. Opening times: 9 am – 5 pm, with last entry at 4pm (advance booking is required on sma.unifi.it)

The museum of Palaeontology is the most important museum of its kind in Italy, with 300,000 examples of animal and vegetable fossils, fossil imprints, and rock specimens. The original collections started being put together by the Medici Grand Dukes and were further increased by the Lorraine family, offering visitors the opportunity to witness the evolution of vertebrates and Primates with their own eyes. Opening times: 9 am – 5 pm. 

The museum of Anthropology was founded in 1869 by the physician and anthropologist Paolo Mantegazza and is situated in the rooms of Palazzo Nonfinito. The documentation in the museum was collected mainly during the scientific missions of the Florentine anthropological school and includes ancient bone and skull collections that offer an extraordinary survey of the somatic traits of Italian and other populations from around the world. Opening times: 9am – 5pm, with the ticket office closing 30 minutes before closing time. 

The Botanical Garden (Giardino dei Semplici) was founded by Cosimo I de Medici in 1545 as an academic garden for cultivating medicinal and exotic plants. It covers an area of just over two hectares, divided into smaller and larger avenues, and hosts more than 5,000 specimens, including several very old trees, such as the Taxus baccata, planted by botanist Pier Antonio Micheli around 1720. February is the beginning of the botanical year, and visitors will be able to see the early blossoming of bulbs, cultivated both in pots and flowerbeds, as well as the bright colours of azaleas, roses (both ancient and modern), and wild orchids. Opening times: 10 am – 4 pm, with last entry at 3 pm.   (mina