Fundaco dei Turchi: The Venice Natural History Museum
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The Fondaco dei Turchi, Venice
The Fondaco dei Turchi is
a 13th century palace located in the Santa Croce district on the
southern bank of the Grand Canal.
The palace originally belonged to the influential Pesaro family. In 1381
it was gifted to Nicolo d'Este, the Baron of Ferrara, in return for
political favours.
The palace was purchased by the Turkish legation in 1621. It was
subsequently used by Turkish merchants as a warehouse and residence
until 1838.
The main features of the palace are its twin Gothic towers and double
loggia in the Veneto-Byzantine style. The loggia facilitated the easy
collection and dispatch of goods.
Since Venice was frequently at war with the Ottoman Empire, the
authorities were suspicious of Turkish traders. At one time the palace's
windows were nailed down, and a wall and gates were constructed in order
to confine the Turks to their own ghetto. The only sources of natural
light were the windows which overlooked the interior courtyard.
After the Turkish legation abandoned the Fondaco dei Turchi in 1838,
substantial funds were required for its refurbishment. Since no private
citizen could afford to undertake the work, the palace remained derelict
until it was purchased by the municipal authority in 1865. After
extensive renovation work, it was transformed into the first home of the
Museo Correr.
When the Museo Correr was transferred to the Piazza San Marco in 1922,
the Fondaco dei Turchi became the home of the Venice Museum of Natural
History.
The museum contains sections dedicated to natural sciences, ethnology
and the Venetian lagoon. In addition to several impressive naturalist
collections, there is also an extensive library, and a centre for
scientific and educational activities.
A fossilised baby mammoth
One exhibition hall is
dedicated to the Venetian palaeontologist, Giancarlo Ligabue, who led an
expedition to Niger which discovered several fossilised dinosaurs in
1973.
One of these is a virtually intact Ouranosaurus. It is seven metres
high, three metres long, and approximately 110 million years old. There
are also several mammoth fossils, and the partial skeleton of a
Sarcosuchus imperator, a huge pre-historic crocodile over 12 metres in
length which would have weighed more than eight tons.
The ground floor houses an aquarium with over 5000 litres of sea water.
It reproduces the environment of the reefs which divide the Venetian
lagoon from the Adriatic. It also provides an insight into the diversity
of species found there.
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