MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

In the palace known as Fontego dei Turchi, once the Turkish legation – now the premises of the Natural History Museum, a room is completely given over to Venetian entrepreneur and palaeontologist Giancarlo Ligabue and his scientific expedition to the Sahara desert in Niger which, in 1973 discovered the famous fossil remains of
dinosaurs. The almost intact skeleton of an Ouranosaurus came to light in the sands. Seven metres long and three metres in height, it is one of the most rare finds of this type known anywhere. Today the remains of this iguanodon from 110 million years ago, and the cranium and part of the skeleton of a giant crocodile Sarcosuchus imperator – a flesh-eating creature of gigantic proportions (12 metres in length, weighing 8 tons) – seen in this appropriate setting astound visitors to the new hall on the first floor of the museum.

Lastly, on the ground floor, the new aquarium holding five thousand litres of sea water, gives an idea of the environment on the reefs known as ‘tegnùe’, which are situated off the Venetian coast and host some fifty species. This display offers an extraordinary insight into the reef’s diversity.
A reconstruction in the Aquarium of the ‘Shoals’
Info: Museum of Natural History
Sat and Sun from 10am to 4pm
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Upon reservation for workshops: ph. (+39)041.5236830