Palazzo Poggi

This 16th-century palace in the university quarter of Bologna became the historic seat of the city's academy of sciences and now houses a group of university museums. Its frescoed halls display scientific collections assembled over the centuries, including obstetric wax models, anatomical specimens, antique globes, maps and instruments of navigation and natural history. A domed observation tower rises above the building, once used for astronomical study among cabinets of curiosities.