History

Natural History Museum, owned by the province of Livorno, was established in 1929 on the basis of the rich scientific material of the Natural History Cabinet of the "Amerigo Vespucci" Technical Institute, collected between 1871 and 1909 by illustrious naturalists from Livorno. Unfortunately, during the bombings of 1944, the naturalistic heritage was almost completely destroyed.

After the war the Museum was transferred to the Municipal Aquarium and in 1952 the will and love for the natural sciences of many citizens allowed it to be reopened to the public, thanks to numerous donations to reconstruct the heritage of the collections. In 1980 the Museum was moved to Villa Henderson, whose main building, completely renovated, houses the operational heart of the Institute.

New structures with a modern design were built adjacent to the historic villa and permanent exhibitions themed "Mediterranean environment" were set up inside them. The library, the reading room, the collection warehouses and the educational laboratories were located in the buildings inside the historic park, while the botanical garden was created in the land at the back of the museum.
 

The Natural History Museum of the Mediterranean today is located in the ancient Villa Henderson built at the end of the 18th century. The exhibition sectors, renovated and built from scratch in the 1980s by the architect Giuseppe Milanesi, are located in the modern building adjacent to the villa: the Geopaleontology Room, the Human Room and the Zoology Room.
Subsequently, other expansion works led to the creation of the Sea Room dedicated to Mediterranean cetaceans, thanks to years of recovery and study of specimens stranded on the Livorno coast.

The exhibition is completed by the Invertebrates Room, located in the annexes along the perimeter of Via dell'Ambrogiana, the Botanical Garden with the Pharmaco-ethnobotany section and the Ethnobotany section dedicated to ancient fruit trees. There is also a Temporary Exhibition Hall located at the back of the Villa.
On the upper floor of the Villa there is a Planetarium and a Specola equipped with a telescope.