Natural Sciences Museum of ITG “Filippo Parlatore”, Palermo

The Museum of Agricultural Sciences and Technologies was organized between 1992 and 1996, using artifacts, all dating from the late 1800s to the first half of this century, that were recovered from the ruins of the glorious Agricultural Cabinet, an asset of the Institute. The restoration work, under the direction of Prof. A. Casabona, involved students who, by increasingly engaging in the “game” of “excavation,” “recovery,” and “conservative restoration,” restored dignity to a historical testimony destined for degradation and returned this heritage to the school community and the city. The “restored” material has significant historical and cultural interest and represents evidence of the evolution of agricultural technologies. It consists of:

educational models (some awarded at the 1880 Melbourne World Exhibition);

operating and industrial machines;

collections of seeds and fruits;

various woody species in sectioned trunks;

herbaria, ancient agricultural texts, and illustrative maps;

entomological and educational boxes illustrating some agricultural and industrial production processes;

ancient educational models of hillside, mountain, and plain land management, and tree plantations with different training forms.