Il Museo Geofisico di Rocca di Papa: tra divulgazione e ricerca scientifica

Abstract

The Geophysical Museum of Rocca di Papa is located in an historical, three floor building, of the small
town Rocca di Papa, twentyfive kilometres from Rome. The edifice was, until 1931, the place of the
Geodynamic Observatory, created in 1889 by the famous seismologist Michele Stefano De Rossi. The
museum is due to an agreement between the Town Council of Rocca di Papa and the Istituto Nazionale di
Geofisica (INGV, one of the most important European Research Institutions operating in geophysics) signed
in 2000. After bureaucratic passages and two years of important restoration the museum was open to the
public at 26th February 2005.
The main aim of the Geophysical Museum is to illustrate how experimental data and information,
accumulated by science in the course of time, led to new hypotheses on the internal structure of the Earth.
The target of the educational and of the scientific disciplines of the Museum is mainly school students of all
ages, but also local residents, and tourists: since its opening, approximately two years ago, the Museum has
been visited by more than eight-thousand people. Posters, movie presentations, plastics, games and interactive
experiments explain to visitors the main topics of geophysics and the stages of scientific research which led to
the modern concept of the Earth internal model. Seismic instruments and games are easily accessible so that
the visitor can interact with them: experimental data are recorded in real time and displayed through different
monitors placed throughout the rooms. The museum has also a small cinema for three dimensional projections
which allow visitors to experience a virtual tour on the Alban Hills, the seismic zone where the museum is
located, and also on some other Italian tectonic belts where earthquakes occurred in past. The article
introduces the museum and the seismological characteristics of the area, and describes the activities, the
exhibits of the Museum and their methodology. [The Geophysical Museum of Rocca di Papa: between
knowledge and scientific research]