These artifacts were arranged in 1953 by P. Egidio De Tommaso in the mezzanine of the sixteenth-century Palazzo Della Monica. In 1981 P. Tommaso Leopizzi, responsible for the Missions, had the brilliant idea of establishing the missionary center in the current rooms of the Museum by transferring the material of Father Santoro and other artifacts coming from Formosa where for years a group of Franciscan friars from Lecce had been working.
At the same time, some collections (beetles, butterflies, shells, …) curated by P. De Tommaso were added. This was the beginning of the Chinese Missionary and Natural History Museum. Twenty years of life have seen transformations and additions both in the premises (expansion), and in the collections (increase of those existing and others added anew: minerals, fossils, and the herbarium).
The Museum today, arranged in 12 rooms, includes the section of Chinese Culture and that of Natural History itself divided as follows: marine fauna (crustaceans, fish, madrepores, corals, echinoderms, sponges, shells), terrestrial fauna (beetles, butterflies, reptiles, mammals, birds), minerals, fossils, herbarium.
Visit details info:
Open only for guided visits:
Tue. Thu. Sat. 9:30 – 11:00; Oct./Apr. 16:00 – 18:00; May/Sept. 17:00 – 19:00
Visits by School Groups must be arranged in advance
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