Museum of Natural History

It is situated in the Fontego dei Turchi, on the Grand Canal. An important scientific institution, it contains various collections and an important library; it is the also the centre of activities for surveys and research into the lagoon of Venice and its fauna. Through loans, donations and acquistions, the initial Correr and Instituto Veneto core of materials has been added to continually, meaning that the storing and conservation of the present-day collection poses no small problem. The old individual collections (Olivi, Contarini, Nardo, Trois, Spinelli, Zanardini, Innocente, A. P. Ninni, E. Ninni etc.) have now been joined by others, the most important being the Giordani Soika entomology collection (1983), the Bisacco Palazzo collection (1986), the Cesari malacology collection (1993) and, more recently, the Ligabue collection and the Perale ornithology collection.
Also worthy of mention is the African ethnology collection of G. Miani. G. De Reali and N. Forin.