Lazio's fifteen Nature Museums, grouped together under the Resina Museum System, have produced a group programme that extends over 2016 and beyond, to encourage visitors to explore the multiple facets of the area. The city of Rome is surrounded by bucolic farmland, wooded hills and unspoiled nature reserves, while the entire region has a variety of environments that range from sea to mountains and lakes to wetlands, each with its own specific ecosystem.
During May, the Museum of Lubriano highlights the world of bees, while the Geological Museum of nearby Civita di Bagnoregia, the celebrated dying city, examines the underlying Valley of the Calanchi (ancient limestone rocks scored by erosion) and includes tastings of wine produced on the local volcanic soil.
In June, the Museum of Flowers at Acquapendente, in the Nature Reserve of Monte Rufeno, offers courses in herbs and wild plants that can be used in the kitchen.
In August, the Museum of the Sea at Sabaudia organizes guided boat and canoe trips to explore the biodiversity of the coastal lakes.
At Capranica Prenestina on the 25th,26th and 27th November you can enjoy countryside walks among the autumn colours and observe the traditional process of preserving the local chestnuts.
The year ends in December at Allumiere with woodland walks, a traditional off-the-cuff poetry recital by the local men and a photographic competition on the theme Nature.
Other museums participating in the project include the Museum of Migrating Birds on Ventotene island, the Geopalaeontological Museum at Rocca di Cave situated inside the local medieval castle, the Museum of the River Tiber at Nazzano (the extraction of alum over the centuries), the Museum di Energy at Ripi in the Ciociaria (visits to the local petroleum wells), the Museum of Barbarano Romano, with excursions to the canyons of the Tuscia, riddled with Etruscan tombs, the Geophysical Museum of Rocca di Papa on the slopes of the extinct Alban Hills volcano, the Nature Museum of Monte Soratte, Sant'Oreste, the Volcano Museum at Giuliano di Roma MUVE and the Civic Museum of Zoology in Rome's Villa Borghese Park, with over 5 million exhibits from all over the world.
Info: www.museiresina.it