Founded in 1941, the il Liceo scientifico "Antonio Vallisneri" was originally housed in a wing of the monastery of San Ponziano in Via Elisa. In 1963 it was moved to the building it occupies today, constructed thanks to financing by the Provincial Administration; subsequently, due to a progressive increase in the number of students, the premises were enlarged with new facilities, such as the "New Pavilion", in which the school's scientific collections are kept.

The collections are made up of a naturalist section and an educational one. The naturalist collection contains specimens of fish, birds, reptiles and small stuffed mammals, mounted on wooden stands or preserved in fluid, dating from the 20th century. It also includes a malacological collection, one of rocks and fossils, one of entomology, a herbarium and some botanical, anatomical and orogenetic models used in teaching. The educational collection, dating from the first half of the 20th century, is composed of laboratory instruments for physics (instruments for mechanics, optics, acoustics, calorimetry and apparatus for studying electromagnetism and radiation).