The museum originated from small donations of minerals as early as the 18th century but was officially opened in 1872. The location was not the current one: it was then located in the former Martyrs’ Convent on Via Roversella, also in the historic center of Ferrara. It moved to the address now called Largo Vancini 2 in 1937, in a purpose-built building.

The Museum originally developed thanks to donations from illustrious Ferrara residents who had lived, worked or traveled abroad in the nineteenth-century era of the great naturalistic explorations: the historical collections feature a rich core of exotic specimens. Created to provide support for the city university’s Natural History, Zoology and Comparative Anatomy departments, for many decades the museum did not develop close ties with the surrounding area, but remained a teaching venue illustrating the diversity of life forms around the world through bequests and targeted purchases. In 1975 the university institutes, which had been under state jurisdiction for decades, were moved to a new building and the Museum became fully autonomous. Beginning in 1982 it devoted itself to the documentation of its target territory, which includes the Po Delta and its ecosystems. In 1987 it opened a research facility, not accessible to visitors but used by scholars, volunteers, trainees and thesis students, called the “Territorial Ecology Station.”

The Museum does research on the animal communities of the Ferrarese and Delta territories; gives advice to land management bodies, citizens and scholars; organizes exhibitions, lecture series, conferences, training and advanced training courses; has a rich specialized library; and carries out intensive educational and outreach activities for schools and families.

The ever-growing collections include nearly one million specimens and can be visited by scholars by prior arrangement with the curators. A major project is underway intended to make the scientific data of the collections usable through modalities open source.

Discover Museo di Storia Naturale with a virtual tour.

Ferrara’s Museo di Storia Naturale is a partner in the project Google Cultural Institute has dedicated to the world’s natural history museums: https://artsandculture.google.com/u/0/partner/museo-civico-di-storia-naturale-ferrara?hl=it

The concise guide to the Museum is available and downloadable in pdf format, in Italian(download here) and English(download here).