The Science Museum of the University of Coimbra (Museu da Ciência da Universidade de Coimbra) gathers the historical scientific collections of several units of the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The u ...

, in

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. It includes the collection of scientific instruments from the 18th and 19th century of the Physics Museum, the collections of botanics, zoology, anthropology and mineralogy of the Natural History Museum, and the collections of the Astronomical Observatory and the Geophysical Institute of the University of Coimbra. Formerly there were several museums in the university, including a museum of

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, a museum of

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

, a museum of natural history, and a museum of mineralogy and

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

, which were managed by different university departments. They merged in 2006/2007 to form the Science Museum of the University of Coimbra. Most of these collections date back to the reform of the University promoted by the

Marquis of Pombal Count of Oeiras () was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated July 15, 1759, by King Joseph I of Portugal, and granted to Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, head of the Portuguese government. Later, through another roy ...

in 1772, where the teaching of the sciences took major importance, and are lodged in the contemporary buildings of the 18th century. This constitutes the most important science collection in Portugal and one of the most important ones in Europe.

External links

Official siteScience Museum University of Coimbra, Portugal
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