The Museum of Mineralogy and Petrography of the University of Trieste, is located in the "O" Palace of the San Giovanni Complex. It consists of three exhibition rooms, a classroom for teaching purposes and two workshops for the cataloguing and the study of minerals and rocks. The museum's aim is primarily for teaching purposes, as suggested by the presence of instruments for mineralogical study, microscopes and x-ray machines.
The entrance hall is distinguished by the large pink central quartz, surrounded by the central showcases dedicated to minerals and those on the walls that display crystalline and silicate forms, fundamental constituents of rocks. On show in the nearby rooms are examples of minerals typical of NE Italy and pieces of calcite present in the karstic caves. The museum has a total of 1,500 mineral and 700 rock specimens.
The museum is the only one in the Region dedicated to mineralogy and petrography.
Its educational vocation is very interesting and the museum wasconceived precisely to spread scientific culture in geology, especially aimed at university students
1. the fascination of the minerals expressed by their colours: the large pink quartz in the centre of the main hall;
2. the fascination of minerals expressed by their shapes: haematite;
3. The fascination of minerals expressed by their diversity: the poster at the entrance of the museum gives a great overview.
