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The Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology (Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci) in Milan is Italy’s largest science and technology museum. It opened in 1953 and is housed in the former monastery of San Vittore al Corpo, which was built in the 16th century.
Visiting the Museum
The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday and charges an adult admission of €10. A guided tour of the submarine Enrico Toti S-506 is available for an additional €10.
Seven departments make up the museum. They include materials, transport, energy, communication, space, Leonardo da Vinci, and nutrition. Information is in Italian as well as English.
Main Building
We started with a temporary exhibition about cars followed by models of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions produced from his drawings. A display of musical instruments produced between the 17th and 20th centuries followed Leonardo’s creations.
Next was the section on communication, which included old computers, phones, televisions, and radio equipment.
The section on space displayed huge telescopes and space equipment while the energy section talked about sources of energy and devices used to extract it.
The final section we visited inside the main building was an excellent interactive exhibit on nutrition. There were holograms and attractive displays teaching what’s inside the food we eat.
Other Buildings
Outside of the main building is the transportation section. This includes the submarine Enrico Toti S-506 and a building full of locomotives.
The final building is about air and water transport. The schooner Ebe (1921), the bridge of the transatlantic liner Conte Biancamano (1925), and other ships are on display as well as several historic planes are on display. A walk through the gift shop concludes the visit with an exit onto Via Olona.
My Thoughts
The museum is excellent and has some wonderful interactive exhibits. We enjoyed what we saw but we regret spending nearly two hours there. First of all, we didn’t do the museum justice by rushing through it. The museum definitely warrants at least a half day. Secondly, there were other more important attractions that we would have preferred to visit. I would have felt more comfortable with my decision to visit this museum on a longer visit to Milan and with more time to spend enjoying the exhibits.
San Vittore al Corpo
Next to the entrance of the Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology is the Basilica of San Vittore al Corpo (Basilica di San Vittore al Corpo). If it’s open, it’s worth popping into before visiting the museum.
The original church dates back to a 4th century basilica. It was enlarged in the 8th century and underwent a major reconstruction starting in 1507.
What really stood out for me was the ceiling, which was painted in the mid-17th century by Ercole Procaccini il Giovane. It features frames of saints and angels against a blue sky. I also liked the marble floors.
