Museo Leonardiano

Leonardo's machines built from his notebooks, in his hometown

Housed in the Castello dei Conti Guidi at the center of Vinci, this is the main Leonardo museum and the right place to start your visit. The collection focuses on his scientific and engineering work — models of machines built from his notebook drawings, from flying contraptions to hydraulic devices to war machines — rather than his paintings. It is hands-on in spirit and genuinely interesting even if you arrive skeptical about yet another Leonardo exhibition.

The museum was expanded in recent years to include a second site in the nearby Palazzina Uzielli, connected to the castle. Between them they cover the full range of Leonardo's technical imagination: the mechanics of flight and water, military engineering, optics, and anatomy. Open daily 9:30–18:00 (November–February) and 9:30–19:00 (March–October). Tickets cover both museum sites.

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The models here are built strictly from Leonardo's own notebook drawings — no guesswork, no artistic license. When engineers first tested some of them in the twentieth century, several worked exactly as designed. Others, like the aerial screw (a precursor to the helicopter), didn't — but the thinking behind them was five centuries ahead of its time.