The Natural History Museum of Mount Baldo and Garda

Discover the History and Nature of Mount Baldo and Lake Garda: A tour of the Malcesine Museum. 
Within the ancient walls of the Scaliger Castle in Malcesine, you will find the Natural History Museum of Mount Baldo and Garda inside the Casermetta.
Here you will enjoy an innovative, multi-sensory approach. In fact, the museum inside the Scaliger Castle was renovated in 2008.

During the tour, you can engage your senses in interactive multimedia, sound, video, and touch screen activities. It is an attraction for teens and children eager to learn while having fun.
You will be able to touch the rocks, smell the flowers of Mount Baldo, watch and listen to the sounds of the lake.

What can you see at the Museum of Natural History of Mount Baldo and Garda?

A historical and nature trail to be travelled through nine rooms. Four are dedicated to Lake Garda, and five to the landscape and mountains. You will learn about the archaeological and natural heritage of the area. From the geological formation, fauna, and flora, to the evolution, climate, and biodiversity of Mount Baldo and Lake Garda.

The exhibits at the Natural History Museum of Malcesine are designed so that visitors of all ages can understand them. Each item on display is treated like a work of art, with the care and attention normally paid to a masterpiece.
Besides its importance for science, the museum is also an important centre for the culture and history of Malcesine.
In addition to the Natural History Museum of Lake Garda and Mount Baldo, the Castle is also home to the “Goethe Room” and Venetian galleys. Definitely not to be missed.

For those who decide to spend a vacation in Malcesine, a visit to the museums of the Scaliger Castle is one of the most interesting tourist attractions.
If you are looking for museums to tour on Lake Garda, put Scaliger Castle and the Natural Museum of Mount Baldo and Lake Garda at the top of your list.

And the icing on the cake? The enchanting, mysterious and historic setting that is the Scaliger Castle in Malcesine.

THE NINE ROOMS OF THE MUSEUM

• Room 1: Depth
  The purpose of this room is to immerse the visitor in the lake, to disconnect them from what is going on outside and to make them imagine that they are at the bottom of Italy’s largest lake, so they can really take it in.
• Room 2: Chronology
  The goal is to present the geological formation of Mount Baldo and Lake Garda by highlighting the way it looks now and the way it looked millions of years ago.
  In the foreground you can see the lake with springs originating from under the lake and submerged and incline rock layers. Displayed there are various rock samples (you can touch) of the various geological formations (moraine, Eocene/Palaeocene marly limestones, Red Scale, Biancone, Red Ammonite, Oolite Limestone, Gray Limestones, etc.).
• Room 3: The stratigraphy of the lake
  This room is dedicated to learning about the fauna that once inhabited these areas and those that are now living in the lake. Two display cases show the species of fish living in the lake. A model, made based on cartography provided by the Hydrographic Institute of the Navy, shows the lake and its depth, provides various information about its length, width, and other data concerning it.
• Room 4: The reeds
  This room reproduces a glimpse of the lake and presents its history. In the diorama, on the left as you enter, a reed area of the Lazise stilts area is reconstructed. The fauna that is living on the surface of the lake now is visible. These are mainly birds that prey or nest in the reeds and large fish that can be glimpsed below the surface.
  In the showcases, as you enter on the right, there is a cross-section of fauna “that cannot be seen,” that is, an enlarged reconstruction of interstitial fauna in its environment (sand and pebbles).
• Room 5: The landscape and vegetation
  Upon entering this room, the visitor’s mind is no longer focussed on the lake itself and is faced with Mount Baldo with its diverse environments. Highlighted are the different vegetation zones, from olive trees at the bottom to mountain meadows on the peaks. Concealed flaps let visitors smell the essences that characterize the area’s most significant plants.
• Room 6: The restaurant
  The original idea for the middle of the museum was to create a “restaurant,” with a menu that would be visible from the eight monitors placed on the tables in the room, and allow the visitor to learn more about the diversity and characteristic fauna of the lake and Mount Baldo with pictures, diagrams, and texts.
• Room 7: History
  The history of the naturalistic knowledge of Mount Baldo is very old, dating back as far as the 1500s, when the first botanical explorations began, which were followed in the twentieth century by research on the fauna in the water of Lake Garda and prehistoric ones. Display cases and panels illustrate the most important personalities.
• Room 8: The high mountain
  The topic of this room is the fauna of Mount Baldo and its peculiar environment. Stuffed animals are placed on glass panes representing the altitude where the animals live, from 6 to 2,000 metres above sea level.
• Room 9: Land use
  This is a room where visitors can get directions to find some special places in the area. It is a room that offers suggestions without giving rigorous information. A “light-hearted” room where visitors can stop and rate what they have just seen and, if they wish, sign the attendance register.