THE EARTH SCIENCE MUSEUM
c/o Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche della Terra e dell’Ambiente
Strada Laterina, 8 – 53100 Siena (Italy)
Tel. (+39) 0577 233839
Fax (+39) 0577 233938
Email: museodiscienzedellaterra@unisi.it
Contact: Giancarlo Pagani, email: giancarlo.pagani@unisi.it
The Earth Science Museum is part of SIMUS, Sistema Museale Universitario Senese and collaborates with the FMS, Fondazione Musei Senesi.
The Museum is open from Monday to Friday only upon reservation by email or by telephone at the addresses noted above, guided visit to the Museum is free.
The mineralogical, petrographic and palaeontological collections, are collected in the Institute of Geology and Paleontology in the years ' 70, over the years ' 80, have been organized and integrated with teaching and museum specimens of fossils, minerals and rocks.
Only at the end of years ' 90, the collections were exhibited in a Museum in the new headquarters of the Department of Earth Sciences.
The Earth Science Museum preserves geological, mineralogical, petrographic, anthropological and palaeontological collections and maps, including hundreds of samples, organized through an ostensivo system, consisting of 20 thematic showcases; a significant collection of ornamental rocks placed on wall displays, the rock plates exhibited have also large size; many teaching aids provided some interactive.
The collections are exhibited in three buildings of DSFTA, in which the Museum is housed.
Among the peculiarities of the Museum, in the Mineralogical section, can be highlighted some great champions: a barite crystal of over 50 cm in length, which is a world record for the Museum because it is the largest crystal of this species so far found.
Two large sulfur samples from mines in Sicily, a sample of botroydal malachite, coming from the ex-Congo and a quartz crystal in paragenesis with shorlite crystals, from Brazil.
Below you find links to brief presentations of some of our collections.
The experience on field of scientific divulgation, acquired in over 30 years of experience, has resulted in a educational offer, varied and articulated, including laboratory interactive activities.
Our goal is to deepen the aspects related to the study of Earth Sciences and develop application issues relating to: earthquakes, climatology, environment and landscape, morphology, fossil fuels and alternative energy sources.
Emerge amongst other activities, commitment to the exploitation of geo-mineralogical interest and to research and conservation of mineralogical heritage of Tuscany, and in particular the province of Siena.
Other activities of the Museum shows to informative and didactic interest the "Week of Geology", an opportunity for a full immersion multidisciplinary dedicated especially to the geologic area includes numerous initiatives including educational excursions in the territory and interactive workshops.
Below you find a document with our academic offer.
