Padua is a beautiful city, waiting to be discovered, where it's impossible not to get lost in the art and simplicity of a tranquil life. Here you'll find the Padua Botanical Garden , one of the most beautiful in the world, plenty of street art , and a thousand secrets to discover. Today, however, we're delving into Padua's MUSME , one of the city's world-class attractions.
Here, all visitors can participate in games of varying difficulty to learn the correct anatomy of the human body , medical vocabulary, and the association between pathologies and pathogens. Interactive question-and-answer panels encourage visitors to reflect on the museum's topics, with questions on history, science, and health habits.
MUSME in brief
The MUSME, or Museum of the History of Medicine, in Padua, was inaugurated in 2015 and has since become a national and international center of excellence. Visiting the MUSME means visiting a next-generation museum designed to interact directly with visitors and encourage them to actively explore thanks to cutting-edge technology.
Here, you'll find a narrative of the extraordinary evolution of medicine from antiquity to the latest discoveries, with, of course, special attention to the Paduan School of Medicine within the city's historical context. The MUSME headquarters is located in the 15th-century palace that housed Padua's first hospital, the Ospedale di San Francesco Grande , built in 1414 by the married couple Sibilia de' Cetto and Baldo Bonafari da Piombino. This hospital operated for nearly four centuries, until 1798, when it was replaced by the Ospedale Giustinianeo, commissioned by the bishop of Padua, Nicolò Giustiniani.
In the second half of the sixteenth century, these premises were the first place in the world where medical students began to learn clinical practice directly at the patient's bedside, thus highlighting what would become the foundations on which modern medical teaching is built.
A journey between past and future with MUSME
This enchanting place is designed to revolutionize the concept of a science museum and engage all five senses through historical narration enhanced by hands-on interactions. MUSME will present itself as a cross between a traditional collection of historical artifacts and a modern Science Center . Here, you'll find itineraries suitable for all ages, with play and experimental activities suitable for children too.
Precisely thanks to this approach, in just a few years MUSME has climbed all the rankings, won international awards and was voted by visitors as one of the top attractions to visit in Padua and first overall among the city's museums, reaching over 50,000 visitors a year .
The museum's exhibition routes are spread over three floors , occupying a total area of 1200 m2:
- On the ground floor, the first two rooms are dedicated to the history of the building and the years of the Scientific Revolution. Room A focuses on the history of the former Hospital of San Francesco Grande, while Room B explores the role of the University of Padua during the Scientific Revolution.
- On the second and third floors are four rooms dedicated to the birth and development of modern medical science. Room C deals with anatomy, explaining how the human body is constructed, while Room D focuses on physiology, describing how the human body functions. Room E explores pathology, or how the human body malfunctions, and Room F focuses on therapy, illustrating how the human body is treated.
- On the third floor there is also a modern Anatomical Theatre, which simulates anatomy lessons of the past and where you can discover the human body in depth with a reproduction over three meters large.
Visit Padua and the MUSME
Padua, with its historical mysteries and countless attractions packed into just a few square kilometers, could be seen, hastily, in a single day, but why bother? You can spend a few days in the city while keeping your budget to a minimum; you can do so by booking an apartment online to save on hotels and B&Bs, and by taking advantage of the Padova Card with its fantastic tourist discounts.
