Visit the Galileo Museum in Florence

In the heart of the magnificent city of Florence, this museum, commonly known as the Florence Museum of the History of Science, is packed with scientific tools and instruments used from the Renaissance to the 20th century.

Science enthusiasts and Geo Trouvetou enthusiasts of all ages will love this museum’s riches. As will those who aren’t necessarily keen on science or invention, but whose interest is sure to be piqued by the museum’s phantasmagorical curiosities!

Whether you’re with friends or family, this museum will give you the chance to learn more about the work of Galileo Galilei, better known in France as Galileo.

What can you see at the Galileo Museum in Florence?

The museum can be visited on 3 floors as follows:

^1st floor

This floor is dedicated to the Medici collections, where you will discover the instruments Galileo used for his research, including thermometers from the Accademia del Cimento, microscopes, terrestrial and celestial globes, a giant armillary sphere and meteorological instruments.

Some of the famous scientist’s creations are also on display, including his telescopes. It was Galileo who invented the telescope, enabling us to observe the sky and space as never before. The lenses he invented made it possible to magnify an image by up to 6 times without distorting it. And all this in 1609 – not bad for its time!

The^2nd floor

This floor is dedicated to the Lorraine family collections, where you will discover obstetrical wax models, Grand Duke Pierre Léopold’s chemistry cabinet and some of the machines used to explain and demonstrate the fundamental laws of physics.

^3rd floor

This is where you’ll find the library, which contains no fewer than 150,000 works on history and science, including 5,000 old books.

Here are the different themes covered by the museum

• Astronomy
• Calculating instruments
• Chemistry and pharmacy
• Drawing instruments
• Electricity and magnetism
• Galileo’s instruments
• Geography and Cartography
• Measurement of Space
• Time Measurement
• Weights and Measures
• Machines and Mechanisms
• Medicine and Biology
• Meteorology
• Optics
• Pneumatics

Why visit the Galileo Museum in Florence?

Situated on the banks of the River Arno, the museum is housed in an ancient eleventh-century fort on the city walls. Fans of architecture, photography and history will love it.

Also worth seeing on the ground floor of Florence’s Galileo Museum are the various exhibitions on the history of science presented throughout the year, bringing together science, technology and art.

Educational laboratories give visitors the chance to interact with the works on display. The aim is to keep scientific themes accessible to everyone.

You’ll discover the telescope with which Galileo discovered the lunar mountains and the satellites of Jupiter in 1609! There’s also the very first mercury barometer, dating from 1634.

An unusual detail

One of Galileo’s fingers, the middle finger, is in the museum. It was separated from the body of the famous scientist in the 18th century before his bones were stored in the family crypt.