University Museum of Chieti
The first nucleus of the exhibits of the University Museum of Chieti was inaugurated at the ‘G. d'Annunzio’ University in 1994, with the headquarters in the Palazzo De Pasquale. On 21 January 1998, for the inauguration of the Academic Year 1997-1998, the museum was opened to the public at the University campus of Madonna delle Piane.
Since 21 March 2005, the museum has been based at Palazzo Arnaldo Mussolini (the former Enal building), right in the historic centre of the city of Chieti. In 2010, it was transformed from the Museum of the History of Biomedical Sciences into the University Museum, with its own autonomy and new statutes. With its specialty, the University Museum contributes to the character of the ‘G. d'Annunzio’ University, by constituting a "place of memory“ and an exhibition space dedicated to knowledge and dissemination of the Natural Sciences and the History of Science. This is enhanced by its special role in the biological and medical aspects that emerge from archaeological, medical, anthropological and palaeontological research, and also its specific sections that are dedicated to Natural History and the History of Science.
A specialised library is open to the public, while large storage areas that are available and accessible for specialists. The scientific dissemination and educational mission of the University Museum is embodied by the displays for visitors, where every effort is made to provide an easily accessible scientific message, by providing specialised themes for the general public and for students. The University Museum had more than 13,000 visitors in 2011. It is also home to highly specialised training, with university courses that provide certified qualifications in specialised museum-related subjects.
At present, the Museum's collections include more than 19,000 records of palaeontological, prehistoric, anthropological, botanical, and zoological interest, and only recently these have been enriched by scientific instruments and modern art.
The Naturalist Collection
The Naturalist Collection is on display in the large auditorium hall of the Museum, and it consists of a large collection of plants and animals that are preserved by various methods (formalin, dried or stuffed) and mainly includes specimens that were collected and prepared locally in the second half of the 1800s. This is the result of a series of donations and bequests received from public bodies, such as the ‘G.B. Vico’ secondary school (liceo) of Chieti, and private entities, and also of collections prepared carried in the laboratories of the Museum itself.
Currently only a wide selection of vertebrate animals is visible to the public, which is represented mostly by fish, birds and mammals, all of which have been recently restored to their original state. The part of the collection that is currently on display contains rare specimens and even extinct species, all from the territory of Chieti, or at least from the Abruzzo region. Just as an example, we recall the great specimen of Aquila chrysaetos (golden eagle), with a nineteenth-century label that recalls how the specimen was captured in the city centre of Chieti; or the splendid specimen of Felis silvestris (wild cat) from the province of Chieti, which is a subspecies that can no longer be found in our area.
For all of these characteristics, the biological collection has great educational value, but above all, it has a significant scientific importance. This is the reason why the technicians of the Museum are currently working to increase the part of the public collection that is on display. This will also include specimens of other classes of vertebrates (reptiles, amphibians), with at least a selection of invertebrate animals, and above all, with a selection of plants of the nineteenth-century herbaria that are currently being restored.
