Via Selmi 2 - Edoardo Collamarini designed this building housing G.Ciamician Museological Collection and exquisite wooden library. Also, a collection of scientific instruments, apparatus and samples by the father of photochemistry Giacomo Ciamician. The library contains 28000 volumes including historically rich literature by Ocellus Lucanus, Bacone, Boyle, Newton.

The G.Ciamician Museological Collection Photos

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About The G.Ciamician Museological Collection

This is the location for the Chemistry Department of Bologna University and for it’s most famous chemist Giacomo Ciamician who was a pioneer in his field.

The façade of the building is characterised by an extraordinary style of architectonics. It was completed in early 1920s by the Bolognese architect Edoardo Collamarini who died shortly after its construction.

Just inside the main door and in the corner is Ciamician’s actual table and chair plus a bust of him. This mock up of his lab is the beginning of the museum collection and it must also be noted that officially speaking there is no museum but rather a loose collection throughout the corridors similarly laid out. On the ground floor here are various instruments and chemical compounds in glass cases.

The title father of photochemistry was conferred on Giacomo Ciamician for his research in this field and the effects of chemicals on light. This collection which was organised at the beginning of 1985 therefore reflects his work. The instruments he used is composed in 3 parts: scientific apparatus, laboratory experiments and historically important samples. The whole collection however is not on display.

One other main attraction in this building is this fabulous library also designed by Edoardo Collamarini. It’s made from chestnut wood and constitutes one of the rare examples of this style. It’s 240 m2 and has 60 places for studying. There are 28 thousand volumes here rich in didactics and research material.

The principle areas of interest are Analytical, Physical, Theory, Inorganic, Photo, Supermolecule, Innovative and Biochemistry. It also contains a section dating from the 17-19th centuries. There is a selection of famous literary accomplishments by authors including: Ocellus Lucanus, Bacone, Boyle, Newton and others.

On the second floor is where there are more instruments of even greater significance including one of the first polarography machines which is identical to the prototype that the Nobel Prize winner for chemistry Heyrowsky used in 1959. There’s also a Carl Zeiss colourometer, the photometer of Pulfrich and a combustion apparatus to measure chemical elements.