Mineralogy Museum

In 1814, when the University was restored after the Napoleonic period, a mineralogical section already existed in the Cabinet of Natural History consisting of some important collections donated to the University by Maria Luigia. In 1895, with the subdivision of the existing university chair of Mineralogy and Geology, there was also the separation of the paleontological museum from the mineralogical one, both located in the central building of the University but on different floors. The scientific revolution of the eighteenth century also brought the development of chemistry and crystallography allowing to understand the relationships between shape, chemical composition and physico-crystallographic properties of those fascinating shiny objects.

Worthy of note are the meteorites, coming from collections of the late 1700s and early 1800s, exhibited to the public for the first time in 2014, including the rare carbonaceous chondrite from Renazzo and the pallasite from Krasnoyarsk, as well as the only meteorite that fell in historical times in the Parma area of Borgo San Donnino (ancient name of Fidenza), which fell in 1808 at the Pieve di Cusignano, in the middle of the Napoleonic occupation.

Various examples of minerals stand out in the display cases: the crystallization in a decimeter-sized vein of amethyst, a variety of violet quartz for entry into the crystalline structure of trivalent iron.

Interesting to learn about the mineralogy of the Parma area is the first showcase at the entrance, where we find some characteristic minerals of the Parma area and the nearby Reggiano, such as the rounded aggregations of barite (BaSO4), called septaria, the black quartz well crystallized in the gypsum, or the beautiful rhombohedral crystallizations of calcite. Although not very conspicuous, melanophlogite is very important, a rare silica clathrate, whose discovery in Parma is one of the few in the world.

As for the rocks, the Krantz collection presents the main lithotypes present on the earth's crust, while in the showcase on the side you can see the collection of polished plates of ornamental stones. Try to find the ones that are in your home!