Established by the ornithologist Father G. B. Fourcault in 1766, the museum was originally founded as the Cabinet of Animals, but this core was later joined by other collections, especially when the naturalist Pellegrino Strobel became director in the second half of the 19th century. The visit route illustrates the characteristics of the natural environment of the Parma landscape and other geographical realities, exhibiting zoological collections gathered since the 18th century. Of particular interest are the African ethnographic collections. The museum is organized in two locations. In the University Palace, you can admire Fourcault’s historical collection from the 18th century, and the Systematic Collection of Vertebrates by Angelo Andres, director of the Museum from 1899 to 1926. The latter, arranged between 1923 and 1925, includes over two thousand specimens. Two African ethnography collections, from Pigorini and Falzoi, are also on public display. Among the zoological collections, the “Vittorio Bottego” collection deserves attention, with about six hundred specimens from Eritrea, including rare corals from the Gulf of Massawa. At the Botanical Garden, several educational rooms mainly exhibit invertebrates: mollusks, cnidarians, echinoderms, arthropods. There are also classrooms for the study of biological evolution and urban fauna. Finally, part of the Del Prato collection, consisting of specimens of Parma’s birdlife, and the ethnographic section, including materials from Zaire, are accessible to the public. Other collections, especially of invertebrates, are available only for study purposes.
Information about the Natural History Museum of Parma
Via Farini, 90,
43121 Parma (Parma)
0521033430
musnat@unipr.it
https://museodistorianaturale.unipr.it
Source: MIBACT
