Museum of Geology and Paleontology of the Athens University
- Written byMaria-Niki Koutsoukou
- Published in Science & Nature
- Read 13170 times
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The history of the Museum starts in 1858. It all begun with the donation of the collections of the Natural History Society to the University of Athens. These collections were the foundation of the Natural History Museum. During these early years and despite financial difficulties, the collections of the Museum increased considerably, thanks to many donations, purchases and the collection of material during scientific expeditions in Greece.
https://www.athens-museums.com/guide/science-nature/40-museum-of-palaeontology-geology?tmpl=component&print=1#sigProGalleriace538f1ae8
In 2002, the start was given for a complete renovation of the exhibition. Since the majority of the Museum’s specimens originates from Greece, we decided to built an exhibition focusing on this material. The new exhibition presents the fossil fauna and flora of Greece during the last 30 million of years. It shows the evolving region, characterized by major climatic changes, which had a big impact on the flora and fauna.
The Collection
The Museum of Paleontology and Geology houses an irreplaceable collection of the geology, fossil fauna and flora of the mainland and the islands of Greece. The collection of fossils falls into four main groups: invertebrates, vertebrates, plants, and micropaleontological objects. The most important fossils are on exhibit for the public. The fossils from Greece range in time from 290 million years ago until only about 4.4 thousands years ago. The oldest Greek fossils are trilobites and brachiopods from the Permian deposits of Chios. Apart from the Greek fossils, we have some foreign fossils and casts, mainly of large reptiles.
- Collection of Fossil Vertebrates
- Collection of Fossil Invertebrates
- Collection of Fossil Plants
- Vrisa Natural History Collection: The Natural History Collection of Vrissa, Lesvos, is part of the collection of the Museum. The Vrissa Collection contains rocks, minerals, fossils, plants and taxoderms of the living fauna of the island.
- Address: Panepistimioupoli, Oulof Palme, 15784 Zografou, Athens
- Admission: 2€
- How to get there: Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, University of Athens: i At subway station Evangelismos, take bus 250 to the university (Panepistimio). ii At subway station Katehaki, take bus 251 to the university (Panepistimio).
- Schedule: To visit the Museum, please call 210 7274 086. The Museum is closed in the weekends and on national holidays.
- E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Phone: (+30) 210 7274 086
- Internet Page: http://paleo-museum.uoa.gr/