Museo Galileo (Galileo Museum), Florence

Museo Galileo (Galileo Museum), Florence

This museum serves as a remarkable tribute to the renowned scientist Galileo Galilei, who was born in Pisa in 1564 and passed away in 1642. Within its walls, visitors can explore a fascinating collection that includes Galileo's telescopes and the lens he utilized to make groundbreaking discoveries about Jupiter's largest moons. The museum also offers impressive, large-scale reconstructions of Galileo's experiments on motion, weight, velocity, and acceleration, occasionally demonstrated by knowledgeable staff members.

In 1657, Florence established the world's first-ever scientific institution, the Academy for Experimentation ("Accademia del Cimento"), as a tribute to Galileo. Some of the academy's pioneering inventions, such as early thermometers, hygrometers, and barometers, are proudly showcased in the museum.

Additionally, be sure to admire the 1554 world map created by Portuguese cartographer Lopo Homem, as well as the nautical instruments devised by Sir Robert Dudley, an Elizabethan marine engineer employed by the Medici dukes to construct the harbor at Livorno.

Why You Should Visit:
Visitors with an interest in English literature will have the opportunity to expand their knowledge, while art enthusiasts can appreciate the aesthetic beauty of thes functional devices on display. Engineers will find themselves in a paradise of endless arrays of gadgets. Families with young children seeking a hands-on experience may not find it here, but students of all ages will find this museum to be enriching. Furthermore, admission grants access to one of the marvels of modern science: air-conditioning.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Florence. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

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Museo Galileo (Galileo Museum) on Map

Sight Name: Museo Galileo (Galileo Museum)
Sight Location: Florence, Italy (See walking tours in Florence)
Sight Type: Museum/Gallery
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

Walking Tours in Florence, Italy

Create Your Own Walk in Florence

Create Your Own Walk in Florence

Creating your own self-guided walk in Florence is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Duomo Walking Tour

Duomo Walking Tour

Located in the very heart of historic Florence, the Duomo area is deservedly considered the city’s religious and civic center, replete with numerous landmarks. Piazza del Duomo and Piazza della Signoria, the two most important squares in the city, are steeped in history and the sights and activities found here are truly endless.

The most prominent of these, undoubtedly, is the breathtaking...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.8 Km or 1.7 Miles
Florence Food Tour

Florence Food Tour

Food is one of the great Florentine passions, and the great thing about having a delicious authentic Tuscan meal, a snack, delicatessen, or a quality gelato here – besides the abundant variety – is not having to spend a lot of money for it.

In general, the “osterias” and the eateries nestled in Sant’Ambrogio Market will offer cheaper and more casual food with an emphasis on home...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.6 Km or 1.6 Miles
Florence's Hidden Art Treasures

Florence's Hidden Art Treasures

The “Cradle of the Renaissance,” Florence is one of Europe’s most beautiful and busiest destinations, home to some of the world's greatest pieces of art and architecture. The iconic masters like Giotto, Botticelli, Raphael and Michelangelo, as well as their somewhat less-known but equally talented counterparts, such as Ghirlandaio, Sangallo and Castagno, have blessed this city with...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.2 Km or 2 Miles
Dante's Florence Walking Tour

Dante's Florence Walking Tour

Dante Alighieri was arguably the greatest – albeit also most controversial – of Italy's poets. After having served as one of the six priors governing Florence, his political activities – including the banishing of several rivals – led to his own banishment, upon which he wrote his masterpiece, “The Divine Comedy”, as a wanderer, seeking protection for his family in one town after...  view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.1 Km or 1.3 Miles
Medici Landmarks Walking Tour

Medici Landmarks Walking Tour

The Medici family helped to establish Florence as the single most important art capital of Renaissance Europe. In order to prove wealth and power, they built numerous palaces, libraries, churches, chapels and personal residences. The Medicis were big lovers of art and they acquired huge, expensive collections, as well as supporting many sculptors and painters of the time.

Designed by...  view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.7 Km or 1.7 Miles
Arno South Bank Walking Tour

Arno South Bank Walking Tour

The area south of Arno river, also called Oltrarno ("Beyond the Arno"), is a quieter place but not less interesting. Here you can find the Pitti Palace whose collection of paintings is second only to the Uffizi, and the vast Boboli Gardens once enjoyed by the Medici and the royal family. One of the first and most important examples of "Italian Gardens", they later served as...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.4 Km or 1.5 Miles

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