Museo di Etnomedicina Antonio Scarpa

About the museum

The idea of an ethnomedicine museum was born at the end of the 1950s with Antonio Scarpa, a doctor and traveller, who exhibited a first part of his collection at Villa Contarini in Piazzola sul Brenta and promoted exhibitions in various cities. In 1972 the collections were moved to Genoa, to the university’s Institute of Physical Anthropology in Via Balbi 4.

In 1996 Scarpa donated the collections to the University of Genoa, giving rise to the Museo di Etnomedicina that bears his name; some finds have been on loan to the Castello D’Albertis since 1980. In 2016 the university assigned the museum a new home in an old building in the Molo district, near the Porto Antico, which was restored in the following years and opened to the public in 2020.

The exhibition occupies the upper floor, accessed from Via del Molo; the collection continues on the lower floor, and the ground floor has space for seminars, workshops and educational activities. The museum holds over 2,000 objects – instruments, remedies, texts, apparatus – from more than 100 human groups, organised into thematic routes, including phytotherapy, amulets and talismans, traditional medicines from various continents, ex-votos and trepanation of the skull.

Highlights

• Over 2,000 objects from more than 100 human groups
• Thematic routes on traditional medicines of the world
• Collection of Antonio Scarpa, first ethnomedicine researcher
• Library with over 2,000 volumes
• Historic site in the Molo district, near the Porto Antico

Permanent exhibition

• Collezione di etnomedicina Antonio Scarpa – Instruments, remedies, texts and apparatus of the traditional medicines of more than 100 human groups, presented in thematic routes.

Founded

1996

Operated by

Università di Genova

Admission & discounts

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Accessibility

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Kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

The museum offers workshops and activities for groups and for families with children, alongside the visit.

Getting there & parking

From the Porto Antico (Bigo and Acquario), about 7 minutes on foot along Calata Mandraccio to Porta del Molo, then left into Via Mura del Molo. By car: A7 motorway, Genova Ovest exit, the elevated road (strada Aldo Moro), Capitaneria di Porto exit.

Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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