Muséum d'histoire naturelle de Marseille, Natural history museum at Palais Longchamp, France.
The Muséum d'histoire naturelle de Marseille is located within the Palais Longchamp and displays collections of fossils, minerals, and biological specimens across its galleries. The exhibitions occupy multiple rooms that showcase a range of natural science objects and materials.
The museum was founded in 1819 through the efforts of local scholars. It relocated to its current location within the Palais Longchamp in 1869, where it has remained since.
The museum was classified as a museum of France in 2002. Its Salle de Provence walls carry frescoes painted by Raphaël Ponson, listed as monuments historiques since 1992 and restored in the spirit of the 1869 opening. The Salle safari focuses on animals that arrived accidentally through the port of Marseille.
The museum is centrally located in the city and easily accessible on foot. It is advisable to plan several hours for a visit to explore the different collections at a leisurely pace.
In 1986 a specimen of Delcourt's giant gecko was found in the museum's collections and was used to describe the species; the assistant Alain Delcourt is credited with the discovery. The museum also holds 81,000 palaeontology specimens. Its scientific journal ran as the Annales du Muséum from 1883 to 1937.
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