Last updated on October 19, 2020
The science and technology museum in Milan is named after Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance genius behind some of the most iconic works of art like the Last Supper and the Mona lisa.
History
The official opening of the museum took place on the 15th of February 1953 even though the first idea of a science and technology museum dates back to 1906, when Milan hosted the Universal Exposition.
The collection of the science and technology museum is hosted within a 500 years old building which used to be owned by a monastic order: the Olivetani.
The renovation of the old monastery was commissioned to architect Portaluppi who had also worked for the construction of the Palazzo dell’Arengario that now hosts the Museo del Novecento.
The first exhibition ever held in the science and technology museum was dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci and to his work as inventor.
In the first ten years of activity the museum started to grow and to open new sections like the ones dedicated to musical instruments, photography and goldsmith’s art which were officialy inaugurated in 1962.
The following years are marked by the openings of the new halls dedicated to aeronautical and railways machinery and in 1969 a special exhibition named “The man on the moon” organized by NASA and the science and technology museum of Washington took over the entire museum in Milan.
On the 7th of December 2005, a very meaningful date for the city of Milan, the exhibit of the submarine Toti, hosted in the courtyard of the museum, was officially inaugurated. The submarine was moved from Augusta (in Sicily) to Milan by special cars. The Milanese in the months before the inauguration of the exhibition were able to see a submarine crossing the streets of the city. It was even necessary to block the traffic in several neighborhoods and the entry of the huge ship was greeted by the citizenship all as a memorable event.
Informations
The science and technology museum now features a relevant collection that takes more than 50.000 square meters of space.
“16,000 scientific and artistic technical artefacts constitute the collections of the Museum. Collections from the 1930s are representative of the history of Italian science, technology and industry from the nineteenth century to the present. They include large-scale scientific equipment and machines, machinery and plants, in particular relating to means of transport (road, naval, railway, airplane), energy production, steel industry, telecommunications and telecommunications history, computer science, astronautics.”
www.museoscienza.org
The science and technology museum is conveniently located in the heart of the city of Milan. To get there just catch the green line of the underground services and get off at S.Ambrogio station.
Tickets start at € 10.00 and special fare are available for students and groups. To buy tickets on-line just click here.
Didn’t know before about the museum of science and technology in Milan. Happy news!!!