Museu de Ciències Naturals (Natural History Museum)

Museu de Ciències Naturals (Natural History Museum) review Rate it

The Natural History Museum is split between Domènech i Montaner's turreted Castell dels Tres Dragons and the nearby Museu Martorell, housing the zoology and geology museums respectively. The first floor of the zoology museum is a spooky hall of stuffed animals, preserved insects and molluscs, with many of the exotic felines supplied by the nearby zoo. Several animals from the collection have enjoyed a moment of fame being lent out for TV and theatre shows and the horned Mouflon skull was the direct inspiration for the Oscar-winning faun make-up in the film Pan's Labyrinth. Don't expect any multimedia displays - this is a strictly old-school affair of glass cases and formaldehyde jars, although there are hands-on activities for children aged three to 12.

Over in the geology museum, the entrance contains a permanent exhibition on the geology of the local volcanic region of Olot, while the recently expanded collection in the Hall of Mineralogy and Petrology includes meteorites, gems, crystals, radioactive minerals and rocks from the Earth's lithosphere. Some 300,000 fossils reside in the Palaeontology Hall alongside 12 full-scale 1917 replicas of large extinct animals. A combined ticket also grants entrance to the Jardí Botànic (Botanic Garden) on Montjuïc.