Gabinetto di storia naturale del Liceo Machiavelli

School natural history museum in Palazzo Lucchesini in Lucca, with minerals, fossils, birds and an Egyptian mummy; free admission.

Opening hours unknownFree admission

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About the museum

The origins of the Gabinetto di Storia Naturale date back to 1819, when Lucca still had its own university. After the annexation to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Grand Duke Leopold II moved the collections from the Palazzo Ducale to Palazzo Lucchesini, today the seat of the Liceo classico Niccolò Machiavelli, and encouraged donations that enriched the museum.

The collections occupy about 400 square metres and include minerals, fossils, shells, fish and reptiles, insects, mammals, comparative anatomy and herbaria. The ornithological collection numbers about 1,800 specimens of Italian and exotic birds and documents the birdlife of the Lucca area in the 19th century. Among the most curious items is a mummy with Egyptian finds. The museum has kept the original arrangement of its specimens and therefore resembles a cabinet of curiosities.

For a long time the Gabinetto was open only occasionally. Since 2017 the Arcadia school cooperative, born from a group of students at the liceo, has taken care of its opening and promotion. The liceo also keeps around 600 antique scientific instruments.

Highlights

Collection of about 1,800 Italian and exotic birds
Mummy and Egyptian finds
Minerals, fossils and shells
Original 19th-century arrangement of the display cases
Themed routes: Ancient Egypt, birds of the Lucca plain, teaching boards

Permanent exhibition

Collezioni di storia naturale – Minerals, fossils, shells, fish and reptiles, insects, birds, mammals, comparative anatomy and herbaria, with a mummy and Egyptian finds.

Founded: 1856
Operated by: Liceo classico Niccolò Machiavelli di Lucca