The Intelvese Museum of Fossils (MIF) for some years it has presented itself to the visitor in a new guise, more captivating, interesting and easy to understand thanks to the new educational panels, full of images and reconstructions, which tell and illustrate the characteristics of the various species present. For the more technological, special QR Codes allow you to independently manage the visit.
Unlike small museums, the MIF exhibits national and international fossils, belonging to different evolutionary periods, covering a very long time span, from the Cambrian (505 million years ago) to the Quaternary (36 thousand years ago).
Following the timeline, the journey in the territory begins with the giant forests of Val Sanagra, in the Carboniferous (310 million years ago), continues in the Triassic (242 million years ago), with the description of the marine basin in front of Lugano, with the large reptiles found on Mount San Giorgio and with the detachment (about 198 million years ago), of the Eurasian plate and Adria (which will later become Italy), from the rest of Pangea. Ample space is dedicated to the Jurassic period, with the formation (198-190 million years ago), of the seabed of Osteno Intelvi, one of the very few sites in the world where you can observe perfect fossilization and his sensational finds.
We then start again from the Paleocene with the beginning of the formation (35 million years ago) of Mount Generoso and (27 million years ago) of the Intelvi Valley.
The last part is dedicated to the period of glacial predators, characterised by the findings of the Monte Generoso cave: the flints produced by Neanderthal man (64-40 thousand years ago) and cave bears, Ursus spelaeus (50-36 thousand years ago).
The exhibition is completed by the section dedicated to insects and minerals, present in the educational room, where it is possible to watch the projection of videos, documentaries, or participate in themed workshops (observations with a smartscope, making casts, etc.).
A distinctive feature of the MIF is that it is always evolving, continually enriching the number and variety of finds, both in terms of species and provenance.
The mission of our museum goes further: we are actively committed to spreading knowledge, especially among students, creating educational encounters that transform visits into an engaging and formative experience. The chronological arrangement, contextualizing the finds, allows the visitor to notice the climatic and geological variations making him feel part of those eras.
OPENING HOURS: July, August and mid-September Sunday 10:30-12:00
SITE: https://
FACEBOOK PAGE: INTELVESE FOSSIL MUSEUM
For further openings/information please refer to the website and/or Facebook page
Museum Route in the Intelvi Valley | trailer – a documentary by Andrea Priori – Foto Idea by San Fedele Intelvi (Co): https://vimeo.com/198663787
By The Voice of Ceresio: http://www.lavocedelceresio.it/museo-intelvese-fossili/
By Andrea Dispenza – Milanodabere: https://www.milanodabere.it/travel/outdoor/valle-intelvi-un-ponte-verde-tra-due-laghi/
