Palazzo Paccaroni Scientific Museums

Two rarities of the Italian museum landscape are located in Palazzo Paccaroni: the “Silvio Zavatti” Polar Museum and the “Tommaso Salvadori” Museum of Natural Sciences.

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Palazzo Paccaroni is located in Fermo along corso Cavour, in San Bartolomeo district in one of the most valuable buildings of Fermo’s architectural heritage.

At the moment, the building is occupied by various activities, as a result of numerous renovations; in the past it hosted the Music Conservatory “G. Rossini”.

The building is characterized by a symmetrical façade pattern, embellished by the central partition in ashlar travertine, with carved accents inherent to the portal and the overhanging windows, while inside you can visit two scientific museums.

The “Silvio Zavatti” polar museum

The “Silvio Zavatti” Polar Museum is the only museum in Italy dedicated to arctic environments, peoples and to the Italian arctic researches. It was founded in 1969 in Civitanova Marche by the will of Zavatti, who founded in Forlì the Polar Geographical Institute in 1944; the Polar Museum in Fermo is part of it.

In 1985 the “Silvio Zavatti” Polar Museum was donated to the Municipality of Fermo and in 1993 it was inaugurated in Villa Vitali. From 1999 until today it had profound changes. A necessary inventory of the objects stored in it was followed by a new and more rational organization, corresponding to the modern museum needs.

Inside we can see the material collected by the explorer Silvio Zavatti during his 5 polar expeditions, and the result of recent donations, including the one of Jean Malaurie, Lino Brillarelli and Luciana Gabrielli.

“Tommaso Salvadori” Museum of Natural Sciences

The “Tommaso Salvadori” Museum of Natural Sciences contains the ornithological collection of Tommaso Salvadori; these objects derive from his hunting trips in Marche (above all in Fermo and Ascoli area) and from excursions in Sardinia. The collection includes specimens of the typical avifauna of Italy and Marche, including rare species such as the osprey, the monk vulture, the bearded vulture and the royal owl; many of these specimens are remembered by Salvadori in his most authoritative works.

In 1930 his great niece Mrs. Gladys Salvadori Paleotti Muzzarelli donated the ornithological collection to the city of Fermo, together with the storage closets and Salvadori’s collection works, in order to duly preserve and exhibit it to the public.

Tommaso Salvadori personally prepared the majority of the examples of his collection, taking care of the embalming technique and choosing the used supports. In particular the poses of the subjects and the lively attitudes of many of them betray a long and passionate live study of their behaviour while they were still alive, certainly the result of hours of constant and patient observation in nature that only the future great scientist could accomplish during his explorations.