Galileo never observed from this Specola.

In 1765, with the arrival in Florence of the young Grand Duke Peter Leopold of Lorraine, the museum project that led to the creation of the “Palazzo della Scienza” came to life. This was housed in the noble Palazzo Torrigiani, which is still home to “La Specola” today.

The Torrino, designed by Niccolò Maria Gasparo Paoletti at the end of the 18th century. Photo by Gabriella Bernardi

The Torrino as seen from the garden of Palazzo Torrigiani, home to La Specola and the Museum of Natural History in Florence. Photo by Gabriella Bernardi

In fact, let’s start from the end: the museum route ends with the stairs leading to the Torrino, the astronomical observatory better known as Specola, which was actually operational from 1807 onwards.

Palazzo Torrigiani, still today houses this Specola, never used by Galileo, and the natural history museum. However, Galileo is present. Going down from the Specola, in a special room called ‘Tribuna di Galileo’ one enters a sort of temple.