National Science and Natural History Museum of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

The National Science and Natural History Museum is a natural history institution in central Kyiv that displays collections across multiple floors and exhibition spaces. Visitors encounter minerals, fossils, preserved animals, and plant specimens organized into separate sections for geology, paleontology, zoology, botany, and archaeology.

The museum was founded in 1967 and brought together scientific collections that had been managed separately by different departments of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. This centralization made these materials more accessible to the public and students.

The collections here reflect how scientific knowledge about Earth and life has been organized and valued in Ukraine over time. The different sections show what matters to people when they think about nature and natural processes.

The museum sits in the city center and is easy to reach on foot, with clear paths connecting the different exhibition areas. Allow time to move through the various sections, since each covers distinct topics and you can explore them at your own pace.

The museum includes several detailed dioramas showing various landscapes and habitats, helping visitors imagine how animals and plants existed in their natural surroundings. These scenes offer a different view than individual specimens alone and help convey how ecosystems work.