In 1871, the first exhibitions were held during public holidays, consisted of collections of memorabilia and artifacts from the Royal Technical Institute Vittorio Emanuele II.

At the time, the headquarters of the Royal Technical Institute was in the lower city, in the Palazzo della Pretura Nuova at Via Tasso 1.

He left behind massive quantities of important publications and manuscripts — scientific articles of his findings, summary lists containing systematic groups of the species in the region, geological maps of the territory as well as vocabulary lists containing terms of the animals and plants.

On the second floor, there were sections dedicated to the mineral collection, fossil exhibits, ethnography as well as two other rooms for a laboratory and storage.

Valle also promoted research to be done on the region with particular attention paid to aspects related to the quality of the environment, such as the study of Lake Endine, the Brembo and Serio rivers and some springs in the plains of Bergamo.

In the early 1960s, an agreement was signed between the Municipality of Bergamo and the University of Milan for the opening of the Institute of Earth Sciences and, subsequently, Zoology, in Piazza Cittadella.

In November 1957, work began on Visconti Complex at Piazza Citadella, the future site of the Civic Museum of Natural Science.

Lived more than 200 million years ago, the Eudimorphodon ranzii was first described by Rocco Zambelli, who then, was responsible for paleontology section of the museum.

His keen interest on the study and teaching of taxidermy techniques led to workshops aimed at training young taxidermists.