SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TAKE A BOW BEFORE LEONARDO
When you say “science museum” in Milan, you immediately think of the Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia, Italy’s largest scientific and technical museum, and one of the largest in Europe.
Housed in the old cloisters of the Olivetani (XVI century), its transformation into a new cultural hub began in 1947 and was completed in 1953 when it was officially opened to the public. Today, its rooms host the most important testimonies of the history of science, technology and Italian industry dating from the 19th century to present times, with more than 16,000 historic artifacts. Its collections – cars, planes, ships and trains! – and its sections (from metal working to electronics, from communications to plastic) explore the relationship between men and machines starting from the ingenious inventions of Leonardo da Vinci.

Between the main permanent exhibitions, you can find the Telegraphy, Telephony, Radio and Television collections, the naval collections including over 3,300 assets, the Museum’s Air and Water Transport Building, and the Rail Transport Building.
An exciting interactive section entitled “Spazio” is dedicated entirely to the discovery of space and astronomy (including a fragment of moon rock).
Since 2015 an original submarine is part of the Naval transport exhibition: launched in 1967, the S 506 Enrico Toti was the first submarine built in Italy after World War II and nw it is displayed in the Museum courtyard. Get on board with a guided tour (in Italian only): https://museoscienza.vivaticket.com/must/landingmuseo.html

In 2016, the Museum has enlarged its spaces with a new section dedicated to exhibitions and installations: “Le Cavallerizze”. Since 2019, the Museum houses the 1:1 scale model of the first Vega (VV01), a vector developed by the European Space Agency (ESA).

The Museum has also opened a new, permanent exhibition entitled “Leonardo da Vinci Galleries”, the largest in the world dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci engineer and humanist. More than 1,300 square meters and 170 historical models, works of art, antique volumes and installations that bring the exhibition’s narrative to life. A journey through the art of war, work and production, flight, waterways and architecture that ends with a perspective on da Vinci’s influence on Lombard Renaissance painting.

>> Don’t miss a visit to the MUST Shop, the concept store attached to the museum where you can buy books, kits, scientific games, merchandising and much more (via Olona, 6). www.mustshop.it