Mario Strani Civic Educational Museum of Natural Sciences

Mario Strani Natural Science Museum was founded as a joint initiative of Mario Strani and the Pro Loco Tourism Association of Pinerolo in 1979.

The exhibition is thematically organised and tightly focused on exhibits and their natural environment.

The trail starts with the immersive hall dedicated to fluorescent minerals and continues with sections featuring nocturnal animals, plains, hills, forests, mushrooms, aquatic environments and mountains.

An emotional video offers the visitor food for thought on the relationship between man and the natural world around him.

Since 2013, the Museum has been housed in Villa Prever, an Art Nouveau villa built in 1910, surrounded by a centuries-old park with open-air walks and children's play areas.

Duration of visit: approximately 2 hours.

Mario Strani Mycology Collection

This collection consists of about 3,000 resin and plaster casts of mushroom specimens, all manufactured by Mario Strani.

It is organised systematically and by subject, with showcases dedicated to the peculiarities of mushrooms, including poisonous varieties and the pathological disorders they can cause in humans.

Mineralogy and Petrography Collection

Curated by the Mineralogical Society of Pinerolo and the Valleys, it features some hundreds specimens, mostly from Piedmont.

Collection of scale models

The scale models, manufactured by Mario Strani, depict the geology and geomorphology of the Piedmont region, volcanic phenomena and glacier morphology.

Zoology collection

Arachnids, crustaceans, molluscs, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals from Piedmont are on display.
The lepidoptera collection includes an extensive selection of Piedmontese lepidoptera and a small section of other insects of various origins.

Bio-speleological collection

It holds samples of insects collected from a number of caves in Piedmont.