For more information and to book a visit: https://fondazionedohrn.it/home/dadom/
The Darwin-Dohrn Museum
Dedicated to the two giants of science and evolutionary biology, Charles Darwin and Anton Dohrn, the Darwin-Dohrn Museum - DaDoM – promotes the knowledge of the evolution of marine biodiversity.
Inside the DaDoM, visitors will voyage through the oceans through time in the footsteps of Darwin and Dohrn and many other scientists, discovering how organisms became adapted to all marine environments. In this journey through time and research, the public will understand the importance of the oceans in determining the conditions on the planet, will encounter the primordial forms of life that appeared in the oceans over 3 billion years ago, will discover evolutionary theories, and will encounter a series of fossils that show the evolution of forms and functions over the geological eras (walk through time).
Works of art, sculptures and historical biological samples will show how marine organisms move, feed, and reproduce, and the mechanisms that led to current life forms, in a gallery of biodiversity, from the simplest to the most complex organisms, to arrive at the multipurpose room of the DaDoM, housing a large skeleton of a sperm whale (beached along the Campania coasts and recovered by researchers), enriched by models of organisms that feed on the carcasses of these majestic giants of the sea when they arrive in the depths of the sea. The multipurpose room is dominated by a six-meter high wall that houses ten thousand preparations of animals from the Gulf of Naples, set up by the genius of Salvatore Lo Bianco and by those who followed his footsteps in the art of conservation.
The multipurpose room is designed to host thematic exhibits to explore topics of great scientific and popular interest, but also for scientific conferences and seminars, and is available to the cultural world for other initiatives of public interest, such as shows, concerts, exhibitions and film broadcasts. The museum itinerary also includes a journey through the studies and ancient maps of the Gulf of Naples, the discoveries of the over 20 Nobel laureates who conducted their studies in the SZN, up to the current research updated and exhibited month by month.
The Museum includes a large educational laboratory for students of all types and levels designed to carry out practical observation and study activities aimed at discovering the secrets of marine life. The upper floor of the building includes the staff offices, laboratories and organizations hosted by the Center. The Anton Dohrn Zoological Station has returned to the citizens of Naples, Campania and the whole country an asset of the city in its full fruition. This objective will also be extended to the outside of the building, making the garden of the Museum a place of knowledge in the open air. In fact, the garden hosts two scientific submersibles made available by the MareAmico Cultural Association and which have also been used for the exploration of the deep sea environments of the Mediterranean.
Depending on specific needs, the rear lawn or the roof terrace will finally host an open-air summer cinema for documentaries on the sea and for an international competition on scientific cinema and marine documentaries.
Scientific, Educational and Cultural Center in the heart of the city
With the aim of strengthening the so-called "third mission", i.e. the activities of dissemination of scientific discoveries, as well as the opening of research facilities to citizens, with their direct involvement, the Darwin-Dohrn Museum offers opportunities for scientific and educational collaborations, training of teachers and specialists in the sector, educational workshops, cultural meetings, and guided tours for citizens and tourists.
The Museum was inaugurated on December 9, 2021 but its layout will be continuously enriched with new material and new initiatives.
