Florence Science Museum said on Thursday it will rename itself after pioneering Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei when it reopens after restoration work in 2009.
The museum possesses the only original instruments used by the famously hounded 17th century astronomer, including two telescopes.
Its name change will coincide with the 400th anniversary of the astronomical discoveries Galileo made with a telescope between 1609 and 1610 as well as the completion of a massive restoration project at the museum due to get under way in the next few days.
The museum will be closed for 16 months for the 8-mln euro project to create new exhibition spaces and completely overhaul the current collections.
Following the restoration, the first floor of the museum will hold the Medici scientific collection, which includes the Galileo originals as well as sections on astronomy and nautical instruments, and the second floor will be dedicated to the Lorena collection.
A celestial sphere created between 1588 and 1593 by astronomer Antonio Cantucci for the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando de' Medici, and a collection of large globes belonging to cartographer Vincenzo Coronelli at the end of the 17th century will be restored to their former splendour as part of the revamp.
Galileo (1564-1642) was among the most famous victims of the Roman Inquisition.
He was found guilty of heresy by the Catholic Church in 1633 for claiming the earth orbits the sun and was forced by the Inquisition to publicly recant.
The astronomer was formally rehabilitated by Pope John Paul II in 1992.
