Europe's Oldest Anthropology Museum

At a Glance

Museo di Antropologia e Etnologia Florence opened 1869 — Europe's oldest anthropology museum. Housed in the 16th-century unfinished Palazzo Nonfinito, it holds 150,000 ethnographic objects.

When Anthropology Became a Science

Founder Paolo Mantegazza corresponded with Darwin and assembled global collections from Italian explorers, missionaries and colonial officials.

Highlights

• Captain Cook Pacific voyage artifacts.
• Early 19th-century Amazon collection.
• Japanese Ainu material culture.
• Physical anthropology archive (contextualised).
• Unfinished Buontalenti palace itself.

Visiting Tips

Via del Proconsolo 12, near Duomo. €6. 1.5–2 hours. Check days open — limited schedule.