Museo di Storia Naturale di Verona

Verona's Natural History Museum occupies Palazzo Pompei, a Renaissance building designed by Michele Sanmicheli beside the Adige. Its collections connect the city's long tradition of scientific collecting with the natural history of the surrounding region.

Why it matters

The Bolca fossils are a central part of that inheritance. Fish, rays and plants preserve evidence of a tropical marine environment about fifty million years old, recording a very different landscape from the Lessini hills where they were found.

What to notice

Fossil forms retain remarkable anatomical detail, allowing the ancient marine community to be studied as more than isolated specimens. Mineralogical, palaeontological and zoological collections broaden the account of the natural world. The museum's research history is also associated with Sandro Ruffo, known for his work on crustaceans.

Context and history

The Lavezzola family commissioned Palazzo Pompei from Sanmicheli in the sixteenth century. Count Alessandro Pompei donated it to the municipality in 1833 for cultural and scientific collections. Enlargement from 1858 helped accommodate the growing holdings, placing civic research and display within an earlier aristocratic residence.