The exhibitions of Kosmos display the variability of nature, unite the real world with imagination, multiply the chances of encounters with unknown phenomena guiding visitors through 11 rooms of artefacts, interactive stations, videos and games.

Kosmos, a Greek word meaning ‘order’, is inspired by a voyage, in the sense of a necessary endeavour in discovering nature. Travelling allows people to not only discover geographical spaces but new scientific and mental boundaries.

Located in Palazzo Botta Adorno, considered to be the most beautiful aristocratic residence in Pavia which in the past welcomed illustrious individuals such as Napoleon and Vittorio Emanuele II di Savoia, the Museo di storia naturale Kosmos now presents itself in a new and interactive manner, with approximately 500 artefacts flanked by multimedia games, videos, interactive stations for children and much more.

The Museo di Storia Naturale was opened in 1771 by Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729 – 1799), who taught this newly introduced subject of natural history. The didactic collections developed quickly around a first nucleus, made up mostly of minerals, donated by the Empress Maria Teresa of Austria. For 150 years the museum was located in the main building of the Università di Pavia.

Personal collections, in addition to purchases, exchanges and donations of materials of great scientific value, contributed to maintaining the museum’s fame at a European level. After the death of Spallanzani in 1799, his successors contributed to developing the organisation and increasing the size of the collection. Of particular note was the scientific and museological contributions of the zoologists, Giuseppe Balsamo Crivelli and Pietro Pavesi, of Leopoldo Maggi, specialised in comparative anatomy, and of Torquato Taramelli, specialist in geology.