Your typical natural history museum in Italy once skewed more “dim vault where old stuff gathers dust” than “state-of-the-art science hub.” But the country’s increasingly modern natural history museums are anything but dull, dank and dated, and are steadily introducing new, more interactive ways of communicating their collections. Break away from the Italian art museum merry-go-round on your next trip and check out what’s new at these hubs of animal-vegetable-mineral science and natural history.

In Florence

Christened “La Specola” (“the observatory”) in reference to the astronomical observatory that founder Grand Duke Peter Leopold established on site here in the 18th century, Florence’s most eclectic museum reopened in late February of this year after a lengthy restoration and expansion resulting in a whopping 13 new rooms.