Recently opened and with a charming display, the River Museum represents the main nucleus of a small museum system which centres on the protected area of the Nazzano Tevere Farfa regional Nature Reserve and will include, as well as the River Museum, the Museum of the Night and the Eco-museum in the Reserve.
Located within the service quarters of Nazzano Castle, the River Museum is divided into various sections with clear didactic aims, created according to studies on themes connected to the river ecosystem: from the morphological analysis of the territory, geological phenomena characteristic of the Tiber river basin, illustrated through information panels and stone material from that area to the identification of the most important aspects of plant and animal life that characterize the habitat, to which the last rooms of the exhibition are dedicated, in order to ideally recreate the evolution aspect.

The visitor can make use of stereomicroscopes to observe the fascinating world of the sands or the minute macro benthos of the river, discover and directly experience the permeability of different terrains and use modern projection systems for slides and nature documentaries.

An interesting section deals with understanding the ecosystem in connection to main phenomena of human settlement, and the impact of changes introduced by man in recent times and, in particular, “positive” changes from the creation of the ENEL dam in Nazzano, built where the Tiber meets the Farfa.

Among the themes dealt with on the upper rooms, we find pollution and its effect on riparian coenosis, Man and the river, ornithology and fauna of the Reserve. Here we find two passage environments between the rooms that are very striking. The first is assigned to games and sensorial perception, with the reproduction of birdcalls of many aquatic birds and, in the second passage, the simulation of a route, a sort of illusory immersion in a perfect riverbed, complete with pebbles and aquatic environments built in aquariums.

Additional sections: the brand new ornithology section and the archaeology section that documents the main historical phases of the population of the area and the events leading up to the origin of the town of Nazzano. It retraces important moments, from prehistory to the middle Ages, of human settlement in the middle valley of the Tiber.