Archimede & Leonardo da Vinci Museum — Attraction in Syracuse

Our recent visit to the Archimede & Leonardo Museum in Ortigia, while full of potential, unfortunately fell short of expectations—particularly for families with children under the age of 12. We would not recommend this museum for families with younger children, as the experience is likely to be disappointing for them, and by extension, frustrating for the whole family.

The museum takes with children a strictly non-interactive approach to its exhibits (apart from the children's area) , which may be understandable from a preservation standpoint, but is not well aligned with the developmental needs and natural curiosity of young visitors. Children under 12, in particular, are unlikely to enjoy a visit where they are constantly reminded not to touch or explore the very mechanisms that are meant to inspire scientific wonder. Sadly, this greatly diminishes what could otherwise be a powerful educational experience.

We want to emphasize that this feedback comes from a positive and supportive intention. We hope the museum's administration will reflect on this perspective and explore ways to improve the experience for all visitors—especially future generations of scientists and thinkers—rather than responding defensively or dismissing the critique.

To that end, we would like to respectfully offer a few recommendations:

Engage with Educators and Child Development Experts: We strongly encourage the museum to consult with educators and subject-matter experts in child behavior, particularly for ages under 12. This would help assess whether the current expectations set by the museum are realistic or even fair for children of this age group. The goal should be to foster curiosity and engagement—not to alienate young minds from science and innovation.

Reassess the Attitude Toward Exhibit Handling: There is an overwhelming sense of anxiety from staff regarding potential damage to the exhibits, whether by children or adults. We urge the museum to consider reaching out to similar institutions elsewhere in Europe and beyond, where fully interactive exhibitions exist and thrive. A similar, larger-scale exhibition in Greece, for example, is a model in offering hands-on experiences for all age groups without compromising the integrity of the displays. It's a shame to see this museum lagging behind others in this respect.

Improve Staff Professionalism and Visitor Experience: During our visit, we were asked by a staff member to stop interacting with one of the few exhibits adults were allowed to touch—simply because it made a bit of mechanical noise (not disruptive noise by any measure) while the staff member's supervisor was conducting an interview on their mobile phone at the museum's entrance. This kind of prioritization sends the wrong message: that internal staff convenience comes before the visitor’s right to engage with the exhibits. We hope the administration reconsiders such practices and places a stronger emphasis on hospitality, professionalism, and visitor satisfaction.

In conclusion, the Archimede & Leonardo Museum has incredible potential. We sincerely hope the museum will rise to...

TL,DR: Watch youtube videos with better, clearer explanations, not worth your time and money, where you can see the same cool-looking stuff, which is physical representations from Leonardo's famous drawings.

No posted price, rude and controlling staff, made the experience not particularly educational, stressful, unwelcoming, tense, and unnecessarily hostile.

A similar museum in Florence was far more child-friendly and inviting. Here, the staff seemed better suited to guarding a collection of crystal-made origami, than a hands-on, show-and-tell experience.

Specifically:

1. at the door, we were told to wait “so everyone could enjoy the museum,” even though it was completely empty. Several minutes after a friendly hello at the door, an irritated staff member let us in and immediately warned that children couldn’t touch anything (except in the kids’ room).
2. We were asked where we were from, I assuming because EU citizens pay less, without explanations, then charged for entrance, without being told how much - spoiler, too much.
3. From then on, the staff shadowed us - the short hair lady mentioned in other reviews - as if waiting for us to misstep, which she absolutely did. In short order, my 8 year old son was scolded for touching - touching - the rope poles outside the entrance "because they might break". Then he got yelled at again, when he tried to close the door to the mirror room, unclear why (because the handle was flimsy?), and again later - in the kids’ room - I repeat in the kids room - when as soon as he touched a wood model, he was yelled at, again, by the short hair lady, “not too fast!”. He had just put his hands on it, and barely started.

-- Reading the defensive responses from the staff, it's clear that the customer is always wrong, and they "have rules". To me it's more indicative of the level of control that the staff wants to impose on the enem, errr, visitors, which feels more like a necessity to establish dominance over their territory, rather than trying to keep reasonable order in a public space.

Looking forward to the...

Allow me to save your time and 7 euros by telling you about the garbage to be found inside:

An AI generated video of an uncanny lady that will tell you not to take pictures. No, you are not allowed to read the rules instead. Three or more working pulleys. A working lever. Two crappy mechanical solar system models that are not to scale, so pretty much painted balls that turn. In the heliocentric model, the moon doesn't rotate around the earth, oops. A tilted plane. Somehow this isn't working. 10 or so Da Vinci gadgets that don't really work (you can't touch them just in case). I would have really liked to see the cart differential work, but alas. They might be from Amazon for all I know. A ⚽ confusingly* labelled "icosahedron". A mention of 5 platonic solids but I guess we didn't have the budget for any of them. An octagonal room of mirrors. A LOT of fan fiction written in the first person by a fictional Archimedes. It's 4/10 for entertainment value. It's mostly Archimedes l fanboying over Leonardo, but unlike real fan fiction, it's purely platonic . 1/10 for learning value. The English translations are not correct, but understandable. 4 or 5 gadgets of Leonardo that are functioning: a flywheel, a cam, a ball bearing, gears. A piece of wood floating in water. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if somehow it doesn't conform to Archimedes' law. A curved mirror that is supposedly parabolic and it shows you a picture of the fish Nemo. You can't really see or touch the mirror. It's a beautiful city. Go anywhere else instead!

*One and a half paragraphs in, it's implied that the model you are looking at might not be a...