The ' (Italian; Volta Temple in English) is a museum in the city of

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps h ...

, Italy that is dedicated to Alessandro Volta, a prolific scientist and the inventor of the

electrical battery An electric battery is a source of electric power consisting of one or more electrochemical cells with external connections for powering electrical devices. When a battery is supplying power, its positive terminal is the cathode and its negat ...

. Volta was born in Como in 1745, held his first professorship there until 1779, and retired to Como in 1819. The neoclassical building was designed by Federico Frigerio (1873–1959). It was completed in 1927 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the scientist's death, but was inaugurated in 1928. It hosts a collection of scientific instruments used by the physicist including his early

voltaic pile upright=1.2, Schematic diagram of a copper–zinc voltaic pile. The copper and zinc discs were separated by cardboard or felt spacers soaked in salt water (the electrolyte). Volta's original piles contained an additional zinc disk at the bottom, ...

s (batteries). The first floor has a display of his personal belongings and his awards. In 1984 the museum was featured on the back of the 10,000 lire banknote. Volta's portrait was depicted on the front of the same banknote. The notes circulated until 2001, when the Euro notes replaced them. Banknotes based on the

Italian lira The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually ...

have since been replaced by notes denominated in

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s. Near the ''Tempio Voltiano'' are the new statue by Daniel Libeskind named

Life Electric ''Life Electric'' (also known as ''The Life Electric'') is a contemporary sculpture, dedicated to the physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Completed in 2015 it is located in Como, Italy. ''Life Electric'' was designed by Daniel Libeskind, an ...

and the '' Faro Voltiano. '' both dedicated to Volta. File:Volta Monument Como - panoramio.jpg, Internal view of the museum File:VoltaBattery.JPG, A voltaic pile on display in the museum File:Lire 10000 (Alessandro Volta).JPG, The museum was featured on the 10,000 lire banknote (1984–2001).

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Further reading