Marconi Museum (Museo Marconi)
The basics
Kids and adults alike will enjoy the interactive and multimedia exhibits at the Guglielmo Marconi Museum, an engaging way to discover the physicist’s groundbreaking work in electricity and radio communication, which included early experiments in wireless telegraphy and the first transmission of radio signals across the Atlantic Ocean. Take a break from Bologna’s art and architecture with a day trip to this unique museum; popular excursions combine a bike ride through the Reno Valley to Villa Grifone with a relaxing stop at the nearby thermal baths for a therapeutic soak.
Things to know before you go
- The museum can only be visited as part of a guided tour, and reservations must be made ahead of time.
- Dress for the weather and wear comfortable shoes if you are visiting as part of a bike tour.
- The ground floor of the villa is accessible to wheelchair users.
- Visitors can also stroll the villa grounds, where Marconi’s tomb and memorial are located.
- The museum is particularly interesting for science and engineering enthusiasts.
How to get there
Villa Griffone is located in Pontecchio Marconi, about nine miles (15 km) outside Bologna along the SS 64 highway. The 92 bus runs from the Bologna bus terminal every half hour.
Trip ideas
When to get there
The Guglielmo Marconi Museum can only be visited with a guided tour, offered each Sunday morning to the general public or upon reservation on weekdays.
Marconi’s Amazing Machines
Get a glimpse of the amazing machines Marconi developed by visiting the museum collection, which includes a number of working replicas of 19th-century scientific instruments (including a spark gap transmitter), as well as a recreation of Marconi’s laboratory and film clips of the inventor that focus on the years between 1895, coinciding with the first experiments of wireless telegraphy, to 1901, when the first transatlantic transmission of radio signals began.
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