'A. Stoppani' Natural History Museum
Pio XI Archiepiscopal Seminary can be seen from a distance in all its imposing and austere symmetry. The planning of the structure, surrounded by a park covering 30 hectares and able to instil sensations of peacefulness, dates back to 1925 and was inaugurated ten years later. The will of the Apostolic Visitor Ildefonso Schuster was to "build the seminary on the model of a small tidy world, with the house of God in the middle of it". The northern wing of the "floor of the halls", in the former High School of the Seminary of Venegono, houses the Natural History Museum dedicated to the famous naturalist Antonio Stoppani: Ambrosian priest, teacher in the Seminary and afterwards in Pavia and Florence, he became the director of the Natural History Town Museum of Milan in 1883. The Museum in Venegono, created thanks to the generosity of the Diocese of Milan, is formed by a large exhibit hall with 98 display cases housing paleontological, zoological, mineral, and petrographic collections. However, this is not the only scientific resource of the seminary, which also houses two equipped didactic labs, a science and a physics lab, and a hall for interactive games.
"The contingent reason leading to the decision to carry out didactic activities for external school groups has been the closure of the minor Seminary (middle and secondary schools), to which the scientific equipment was originally dedicated to. We therefore decided to enhance the precious scientific heritage the Seminary could offer."
(don Elio Gentili, director of "A.Stoppani" Natural History Museum).
The passion and the experience of the priests who believed in this project and who have been supported by a few volunteers, has given the opportunity to continue with the activities over the years: physics experiments, naturalistic observations with the microscope or other equipment, scientific interactive games, guided researches in the Museum.
"Of course, the Museum does not also deal with the above-mentioned activities, but also with a non-stop updating of the material, determinations, cataloging, presentation, and conservation maintenance work. For this reason, the collaboration of volunteers is always welcome."
