Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
A view of Brașov’s Old Town.
Romania • 12 days, 11 nights
Legends of Romania: Castles, Ruins & Culinary Delights
from
Balkans road trip
Bosnia and Herzegovina • 9 days, 8 nights
Balkans Road Trip: Serbia, Croatia & Bosnia and Herzegovina
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
The ‘Old Secretariat’ government building in New Delhi.
The 'Old Secretariat'
This set is inspired by a Roman arena.
Bozdağ Film Platolari
The Sea Water Distilling Plant.
Sea Water Distilling Plant
Contemplative paths.
Ayo Rock Formations
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Names on the bartop.
The Dive
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Wortley built the wooden backpack she used while retracing Alexandra David-Néel’s journey from a chair she found on the street in London.
How Elise Wortley Climbed Mont Blanc in 1830s Women’s Attire
24 days ago
Simplicity is key: Just a slice of bread with a sprinkling of salt and pepper is the perfect accompaniment.
The Sweet Second Life of Creole Cream Cheese
24 days ago
My rendition of frog legs, popping mushroom curry, pad prik khing with salted egg yolk, and sweet khanom thuai.
Recreating My Favorite Meal From Thailand
24 days ago
Inside London’s Gorgeously Curated ‘Art Restaurants’
24 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Italy Bologna Bologna Zoological Museum

Bologna Zoological Museum

This zoological museum began as the first great curiosity cabinet.

Bologna, Italy

Added By
Dylan Thuras
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
  corinnealexandra / Atlas Obscura User
  corinnealexandra / Atlas Obscura User
Squirrels at Bologna Zoological Museum   corinnealexandra / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Monkeys with bared teeth and wild eyes, lumpy looking cheetahs, and a toothy looking polar bear are all residents of the delightfully unkempt Bologna Zoological Museum. Ferrets lay in taxonomic chaos next to mottled gray dolphins. The sleek design of the lobby gives way to rows and rows of cabinets filled with strangely shaped animals. But the enjoyably shabby museum disguises a noble past. It traces its roots all the way back to the very first curiosity cabinet.

Ulisse Aldrovandi's interests ranged widely from botany to zoology to geology, a word he is thought to have coined. At the young age of 31, after serving out a sentence for heresy, Aldrovandi began collecting anything of natural interest he could get his hands on. Aldrovani also had a taste for the bizarre and wrote a compendium, the Monstrorium Historia, of all known human and animal monstrosities of which he was constantly seeking for collection.

Aldrovandi would eventually assemble over 18,000 “diversità  di cose naturali” creating the first great cabinet of curiosity and one of the first natural history museums, though open only to scholars and aristocrats. Ole Worm, who was to create one of the most famous cabinets of curiosity modeled his after Aldrovandi's, and Linnaeus, who created the system of taxonomy, called him the father of natural history. Today the Bologna Zoological museum contains many of the original zoological pieces collected by Aldrovandi and maintains a wonderful cabinet of curiosity atmosphere.

Related Tags

Natural History Museums Museums Museums And Collections Wunderkammers Taxidermy Wonder Cabinets Natural History
Atlas Obscura Adventures

Flavors of Italy: Roman Carbonara, Florentine Steak & Venetian Cocktails

Savor local cuisine across Rome, Florence & Venice.

Book Now

Community Contributors

Added By

Dylan

Edited By

Dark Nebula Deluxe, corinnealexandra

  • Dark Nebula Deluxe
  • corinnealexandra

Published

December 3, 2009

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Bologna Zoological Museum
Via Selmi 3
Bologna, 40126
Italy
44.495651, 11.35388
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Museo di Palazzo Poggi Anatomy & Obstetrics Collection

Bologna, Italy

miles away

Bologna's Istituto di Anatomia Umana Normale

Bologna, Italy

miles away

Museo Internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica (International Museum and Library of Music)

Bologna, Italy

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Bologna

Bologna

Italy

Places 19
Stories 2

Nearby Places

Museo di Palazzo Poggi Anatomy & Obstetrics Collection

Bologna, Italy

miles away

Bologna's Istituto di Anatomia Umana Normale

Bologna, Italy

miles away

Museo Internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica (International Museum and Library of Music)

Bologna, Italy

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Bologna

Bologna

Italy

Places 19
Stories 2

Related Places

  • The Buckhorn Saloon and Museum.

    San Antonio, Texas

    Buckhorn Saloon and Museum

    A 131-year-old wunderkammer of Texas history.

  • Hartford, Connecticut

    Museum of Natural and Other Curiosities

    A wunderkammer hidden on the top floor of the Hartford statehouse.

  • Closeup of the elephant herd.

    New York, New York

    African Elephants Diorama

    This magnificent herd of stampeding elephants has been frozen in time for over a century.

  • A taxidermy hippo.

    Tervuren, Belgium

    Royal Museum for Central Africa Natural History Collections

    A fascinating and enormous collection of natural history exhibits stained by a dark colonial legacy.

  • The entrance on the 2nd floor.

    Tokyo, Japan

    Intermediatheque

    An unexpected curiosity cabinet hidden within a department store in the Japan Post tower.

  • One of the museum’s dioramas of animals staged in their natural habitats.

    Birchington-on-Sea, England

    Powell-Cotton Dioramas

    An English explorer's vast natural history collection has the first realistic dioramas of animals staged in their natural habitats.

  • Florence, Italy

    La Specola Zoological Museum

    An incredible menagerie of more than 3 million taxidermied animals at the oldest science museum in Europe.

  • Hanoi, Vietnam

    Bao tang Dong vat (Hanoi Zoological Museum)

    A French-Colonial era collection of taxidermy and wet specimens, secreted away in the National University of Hanoi.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.