Museo Astronomico Copernicano

viale del Parco Mellini 84

About

This museum is small but holds a valuable collection of scientific instruments used in the study of stars throughout the ages. Here you'll find telescopes, lenses, protractors, as well as sundials, hourglasses and clocks, up to the present day. The first portable clocks, originating in the 1600s, are on display, even though they weren't very precise. The conflict between the Church and Science is also referred to in the decrees issued by the Inquisition that branded Copernicus and Galileo heretics. The museum was burgled about fifteen years ago, but the recovery of the stolen artefacts meant it could be reopened a year or so later. Arturo Wolynskia, a Polish scholar, donated the collection to the Italians in 1882. Admission is free.

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