Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia

The Fondaco dei Turchi is a thirteenth-century Venetian-Byzantine palace on the Grand Canal and the home of Venice's Natural History Museum, named for palaeontologist Giancarlo Ligabue.

Why it matters

The palace's double loggia and corner towers reflect the Venetian-Byzantine architectural tradition and the city's medieval commercial history. The museum within it brings together collections on living and extinct species, the history of naturalist collecting and research in biology and ecology.

What to notice

The collections include cetaceans, fossils and examples of living forms, from large organisms to microscopic life. The mounted Ouranosaurus nigeriensis is a central palaeontological specimen; its status as a paratype has been subject to continuing anatomical review. Displays on naturalist collecting explain how objects once gathered as curiosities became part of scientific study.

Context and history

Built for the Pesaro family, the Fondaco passed to Nicolò d'Este in 1381 and became the trading house of Venice's Turkish merchants in 1621. After restoration from 1865, the palace housed collections of the Museo Correr. In 1923 the city assigned it to the Natural History Museum, which brought together scientific collections from several Venetian institutions. The museum was later named for Giancarlo Ligabue, whose expeditions contributed to African palaeontology.