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The Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology (Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci) is the largest museum of its kind in Italy.
Introduction to the Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology
The museum opened in Milan on February 15, 1953, and is housed in the former 16th century Olivetan Monastery of San Vittore al Corpo (Monasterio di San Vittore al Corpo). The monastery was suppressed by Napoleon on June 8, 1805, and became a military hospital. It was later converted to a barracks. The Basilica of San Vittore al Corpo, next to the museum, is still active.
The total floor space of the museum is 50,000 square meters. It consists of seven departments, including materials, transport, energy, communication, Leonardo da Vinci, new frontiers, and science for young people. It boasts the world’s largest collection of machine models made from drawings by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519).
Visiting the Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology
The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from late June through early September, and daily except Mondays the rest of the year. Admission is €10 for adults, €7.50 for visits age 3-26 and seniors age 65+, and free for kids under 3 (as of May 2025). A guided tour of the Enrico Toti S 506 submarine is available for an additional €10.
Information is presented in Italian as well as English. The exit through the gift shop after the Air and Water Building, onto Via Olona near the Sant’Ambrogio metro station. Check the official website for more info.
Main Building of the Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology
The museum’s main building, in the cloister of the monastery, contains the majority of the museum’s collection. The collection was formed starting in the 1930s and contains over 16,000 artifacts as well as 2,500 works of art and a library with 40,000 volumes. The collection continues to grow through donations and acquisitions. We didn’t spend time at all the exhibits, but I’ve added photos and information below about the sections we were able to see.
First Halls and Temporary Exhibitions
During our visit, there was a temporary exhibition, Expo After Expo (Di Expo in Expo), about innovations created for international fairs held in Milan. There were also some classic automobiles from the permanent collection on display.
Da Vinci Galleries
The Leonardo da Vinci galleries, on the 2nd floor, feature a collection of models based on his drawings. They’re displayed in a long corridor and cover subjects such as flight, architecture, war, production, and waterways. The models and drawings bring his work to life and visibly put his genius on display.
In a room off the Expo After Expo exhibit are models of buildings designed by Leonardo. There’s also a model of the Pantheon by French architect Georges Chedanne (1861-1940).
Music and Theatre
Next is the Music and Theatre section, which contains a collection of instruments produced between the 17th and 20th centuries. You’ll also see part of the revolutionary hydraulic stage used at Teatro alla Scala from 1932 to 1982. It was built in 1938 by engineer Luigi Lorenzo Secchi (1899-1992).
Communication
Next is the communication collection. It’s an overview of the historic achievements in communication and how the latest digital innovations have created “a new cultural era”. The exhibit features telegraph machines, the evolution of the telephone, the impact of the radio and television, and computers.
One of the most valuable artifacts is a magnetic detector invented by Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) in 1902. It’s displayed with some of the inventor’s wireless telegraphs.
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Space
The section on space is divided into two exhibits, Observing Space from Earth and Going into Space. On display are huge telescopes and space equipment. There are also interactive experiences and the only fragment of a moon rock in Italy.
Physics
The physics section features the central detector of the UA1 (Underground Area 1) experiment. Conducted in Geneva in 1983, the experiment demonstrated the existence of W and Z bosons, earning Carlo Rubbia (b. 1934) and Simon van den Meer (1925-2011) the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physics. The original device was nearly 20 feet long and weighed 2,000 tons.
Energy and Materials
The energy and materials section, on the ground floor, covers matter and energy, raw materials and energy sources, consumer products, and how we can consciously play an active role in the relationship between the environment and our need for producing energy. One item of note is an 1883 Edison Dynamo, which was used in Europe’s first power plant in Milan.
Another is a Regina Margherita thermoelectric plant that operated from November 9, 1895, to 1954 at the Egidio e Pio Gavazzi silk factory. The factory donated it to the museum in 1958. The power station consists of a steam engine with two horizontal cylinders and an electric system with two alternators and two exciter dynamos.
Foundry
The foundry section shows how a cast iron foundry would have looked in the early 20th century. It contains an original Stassano furnace built in 1910. It was invented in 1898 by Ernesto Stassano (1859-1922) and is the first electric furnace in history used for steel production.
Nutrition
The final section we visited inside the main building is an excellent interactive exhibit on nutrition. It features holograms and attractive displays teaching what’s inside the food we eat. It also covers the role science and technology play in the food industry and innovations in agriculture.
Aluminum
The aluminum section covers the importance of aluminum in our lives. This lightweight, durable material is used in almost every sector and can be recycled without losing its original characteristics.
Enrico Toti S 506 Submarine
Outside of the main building is the Enrico Toti S 506 submarine, which can be visited on an additional ticket. It was the first submarine built in Italy after World War II and was launched in 1967 to patrol the Mediterranean and detect Soviet submarines. It was decommissioned in 1997 and has been part of the museum since 2005. The submarine is 46 meters long, 4.5 meters wide, and could operate at depths of 150 meters.
Rail Transport Building
The Rail Transport Building (Padiglione Ferroviario), which was built like a typical Italian train station, is full of locomotives. On display are historic steam and electric locomotives as well as the first urban public transport engines. Communication equipment for regulating traffic also features.
Air and Water Building
The Air and Water Building (Padiglione Aeronavale) covers air and water transport. The naval collection is on the ground floor while the air transport section is on the upper floor.
Naval Transport
The naval collection was first displayed at Sforza Castle in 1922 and moved to the Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology in the 1950s. It consists of over 3,300 models, nautical instruments, equipment, and small boats.
The Ebe schooner was built in 1921 to transport goods throughout the Mediterranean. In the 1950s, it became a training ship. It was acquired by the museum at the end of its service, cut into pieces, and reassembled for the opening of the Air and Water Building in April 1964. It’s one of the largest ships in the museum.
The bridge of the transatlantic liner Conte Biancamano is also on display. It was launched in Scotland in 1925 and its first route was Genoa-Naples-New York. The ship made voyages to South America and the Far East and transported US troops during World War II. The museum acquired the bridge in the 1960s during its disassembly. The bridge with original equipment, the ballroom, and some cabins survive.
Another interesting craft is the AC72 catamaran Luna Rossa, which raced in the 2013 Louis Vuitton Cup and 2013 America’s Cup. It hangs in the center of the gallery.
Air Transport
The air transport section covers the aeronautical experiments that have taken place in Milan since the beginning of flight, including the second balloon flight in 1784 by Paolo Andreani (1763-1823), the first motorized helicopter made by Enrico Forlanini (1848-1930) in 1877, and the first flight over the Alps in 1910. On display are commercial aircraft from the 1930s, equipment, and much more.
My Thoughts on the Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology
The museum is excellent and has some wonderful interactive exhibits. We enjoyed everything we saw. However, and I stress this is not a negative review, we regret visiting on this trip.
First of all, we didn’t do the museum justice by rushing through it in two hours. It definitely warrants at least a half day and can be overwhelming if you don’t allocate enough time for it.
Secondly, there are other more important historical attractions in the city that we preferred to visit. I would have felt more comfortable with my decision to visit the museum on a longer trip to Milan and with much more time to spend focusing on the exhibits.
