The Museum of Mineralogy and the Museum of Geology and Paleontology emerged in 1806 from the Cabinet of Curiosities of the Viceroy of Sardinia Charles Felix. The museum was later enriched by the collections of Alberto La Marmora, Domenico Lovisato and numerous other scholars and continues to grow through new acquisitions. Initially, the collections were housed in the premises of the Belgrano Palace on University Street, and only in 1957 were they moved to the headquarters on Trentino Street. The number of artifacts, mostly Sardinian, exceeds 30,000, but only a small number (about 600) find space in the exhibition hall. The Museum of Geology and Paleontology follows a chronological layout, and the exhibits provide an overview of Sardinian fauna and fora from the Paleozoic to the Quaternary. The Mineralogy Museum houses a rich collection of minerals, often of Sardinian origin, sorted according to a classical scheme (native elements, sulfides, sulfates, halides, carbonates etc.). Of considerable interest is a meteorite that crashed in Sinnai on February 19, 1956. The museum also has an interesting collection of scientific instruments from the 19th century, a lithological collection of Sardinia established by Alberto La Marmora, and numerous other paper documents.
