Kosmos – Museo di Storia Naturale

About the museum

Kosmos – Museo di Storia Naturale brings together the natural history collections of the University of Pavia, which originate in the museum founded by Lazzaro Spallanzani. As part of the university reform launched by Maria Theresa of Austria in 1771, the scientist was called to Pavia and created a natural history museum that brought great prestige to the university in the 18th century. His successors expanded the collections with minerals, animals, fossils and anatomical preparations, including the three myological statues of a horse, a stag and a monkey, which are still preserved today.

The collections have moved several times: from the rooms of the Collegio Ghislieri on the first floor of the university, to Palazzo Botta, to the Castello Visconteo and to a storage facility on the outskirts of Pavia, which was open to visitors until 2017. In that year the zoology collections returned to Palazzo Botta, where they were reunited with comparative anatomy and palaeontology, which had been moved from the castle in 2012, thus reassembling the sections that grew out of the 18th-century museum.

Today the museum is on the ground floor of Palazzo Botta, in piazza Botta in the historic centre of Pavia. The route unfolds over 11 rooms with exhibits, interactive stations, videos and games: from Spallanzani's research to Linnaeus, Humboldt and Cuvier, through to Darwin, evolution and nature-conservation themes. In the last rooms extinct or threatened animals are displayed, including the complete skeleton of a southern white rhinoceros, the only one in an Italian museum. The visit also includes the storerooms open to visitors and a route for children.

Highlights

• Collections from the museum founded by Lazzaro Spallanzani
• Myological statues of a horse, a stag and a monkey from the 18th century
• Complete skeleton of a southern white rhinoceros, the only one in an Italian museum
• Sections on Linnaeus, Humboldt, Cuvier and Darwin
• Children's route with the elephant Shanti and storerooms open to visitors

Permanent exhibitions

• Percorso espositivo di Kosmos – Eleven rooms with exhibits, interactive stations and videos, from Spallanzani to Darwin, with extinct and threatened animals.
• I depositi visitabili – Part of the museum's storerooms is open to visitors and can be reached by lift.

Founded

1771

Operated by

Università di Pavia – Sistema Museale di Ateneo

Visitors per year

approx. 17,907

Admission & discounts

Prices for the permanent collection only. The full-price ticket entitles you to visit the other museums of the Sistema Museale di Ateneo within one month of first use. Free admission also for tourist guides and escorts, journalists, ICOM members, members of the Associazione Nazionale Musei Scientifici, holders of the Abbonamento Musei Lombardia/Valle d'Aosta and holders of the “Nati con la Cultura” card.

Accessibility

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

The museum is accessible to people with reduced mobility thanks to a ramp from the courtyard and a lift that reaches all exhibition areas, including the storerooms open to visitors. Two equipped toilets and a free wheelchair at the ticket office. Guide dogs are admitted. Easy-to-read guide and simplified visual map for people with cognitive fragility; a special guided visit is available on request.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations
• Stroller-friendly
• Baby changing facilities
• Kids’ birthday parties

Children's route with the elephant Shanti, drawers to explore, tactile experiences and multimedia stations; child-sized toilet and changing table on the first floor. There are no architectural barriers for pushchairs in the rooms. Family activities and birthday parties.

Getting there & parking

By car: A7 motorway, exit Bereguardo–Pavia Nord or Gropello–Pavia Sud; A21, exit Broni–Stradella; A1, exit Casalpusterlengo, then follow the signs for Pavia centre.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events

Corporate events organised with ADMaiora; the museum also hosts birthday parties.

Plan your visit