Museo regionale di scienze naturali

Founded in 1978, the Regional Natural Science Museum is housed in the 17th-century building that used to be the site of San Giovanni Battista Hospital. The permanent exhibition "Jewels in Rock" with the Mineralogy, Petrography e Geology section is the first permanent display in the museum. The individual samples on exhibit were chosen especially for their aesthetic appearance, distinctive structure, colouring, shape and crystal arrangement. In the next room of frescoes visitors can view splendid Dolomite geminations, manganite samples, quartz, pyrite - a mineralogical microcosm. The ground floor rooms, arranged as the hold of a 19th-century ship or Ark by architect Andrea Bruno, house important exhibits from the science collection started as early as 1700. Among the animals on display is Fritz, an elephant that lived at Stupinigi for 25 years and an American Bison. There are also some extinct species, such as the rearing Elk, the marsupial Tilacino Wolf, the Lion of Barberia and the Quagga Zebra, which are of exceptional scientific value. The exhibition site is also equipped with a specialist library, which is open to the public.