Museo Friulano di Storia Naturale

The Friulian Museum of Natural History occupies a former municipal slaughterhouse and cold store in Udine. Its collections include more than a million botanical, geological, palaeontological, archaeological and zoological specimens, alongside a specialised library and the archive of geographer Ardito Desio.

Why it matters

The museum grew from the Museo Friulano, inaugurated on 13 May 1866 at the initiative of abbot Jacopo Pirona. In August of that year, Giulio Andrea Pirona proposed a natural sciences section to royal commissioner Quintino Sella; he became its conservator in 1871. The institution developed through collections assembled by schools, scholars and civic bodies. It continues to conduct research and publishes the journal Gortania.

What to notice

The permanent displays include “The Origin of the Earth and the Anthropocene” and “Friuli, Capital of Biodiversity.” Geological and palaeontological collections document the region’s natural history, while the zoological and botanical collections include numerous species found in Friuli. The museum garden extends the displays outdoors, and an observation hive with webcams follows a colony of honeybees. The specialised library holds more than 85,000 volumes and preserves the personal archive of Ardito Desio.

Context and history

The museum’s scientific collections grew from late eighteenth-century scholarship by Giuseppe Carlo Cernazai and Girolamo Venerio, followed by work associated with the Istituto Tecnico Zanon and scholars including Ardito Desio, Michele Gortani, the geographers Giovanni and Olinto Marinelli, Torquato Taramelli and Achille Tellini. The museum moved to the former Frigorifero del Friuli and municipal slaughterhouse, where the converted industrial complex now houses its collections, exhibitions and research activity.