Museo di storia naturale di Venezia Giancarlo Ligabue

About the museum

The Venice Natural History Museum has its roots in the Museo Civico e Raccolta Correr. In 1830 Teodoro Correr, a Venetian patrician, bequeathed his collections to the Comune on condition that they become a civic museum open to the public, which happened in 1836. The natural history collections grew through donations and purchases, until new spaces became necessary, and the Comune bought and restored the Fontego dei Turchi.

In 1920, with the transfer of the historical and artistic collections to St Mark's Square, the natural history and ethnographic collections were separated from them. The Fontego dei Turchi, a typical house-fondaco of the early medieval period built in the first half of the 13th century by the Pesaro family, became the seat of the natural history museum, which brought together the scientific collections present in the city; from 1923 the building has housed the museum.

The modern display offers multi-level communication, in which the visitor plays an active role. On the ground floor are the Galleria dei Cetacei (Cetacean Gallery) and the Fontego dei Turchi, an inclusive and multisensory area devoted to the history of the palace. The second floor houses three sections, each a museum within the museum, devoted to fossils, natural history collecting and the variety of living forms.

Highlights

• Galleria dei Cetacei with the skeleton of a fin whale almost 20 metres long
• Skeleton of a young sperm whale
• “Sulle tracce della vita” (On the Traces of Life) section on fossils
• “Le strategie della vita” (The Strategies of Life) on the variety of living forms
• Multisensory area on the history of the Fontego dei Turchi
• Audiopen included in the ticket

Permanent exhibitions

• Galleria dei Cetacei – On the ground floor are displayed the skeleton of a fin whale almost 20 metres long and that of a young sperm whale.
• Sulle tracce della vita – The second-floor section guides the visitor through fossils to understand the formation and history of life on Earth.
• Le strategie della vita – Presents the variety of living forms, with their differences, analogies, adaptations and specialisations.

Founded

1923

Operated by

Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia

Visitors per year

approx. 80,972

Admission & discounts

Online only the reductions for children aged 6 to 14, students aged 15 to 25 and people over 65 are available; other reductions and free tickets are collected at the ticket office with a document. Free admission, among others, for residents and people born in the Comune di Venezia, children aged 0 to 5, licensed tour guides, ICOM members and holders of an AMACI card. The Audiopen is included in the ticket. With “Musei in Festa”, free admission for residents of the municipalities of the Metropolitan City of Venice on the days indicated.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The museum is declared fully accessible to people with disabilities and is part of the accessible routes of the Comune di Venezia. It is housed in a listed historic palace, so the floors may have slight slopes, raised thresholds or steps of uneven height.

Kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

MUVE Education activities for families with children and young people aged 5 to 14, booked online (average duration 1 hour and a half), including last-minute bookings. Family groups of 1 to 4 adults with young people.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Lockers

Information desk, ticket office, cloakroom, lockers with deposit, unattended umbrella storage, Museum Store and toilets. Trolleys and large luggage may not be taken in. Dog-sitting service bookable through Bauadvisor.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit