Earth Sciences Museum in Sosnowiec

The Earth Sciences Museum is a university geological museum in Sosnowiec. It is housed in the building of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Silesia, known as the “Żyleta” (the Razor Blade), and holds about 4,000 specimens: rocks, minerals, fossils and meteorites.

From 1994 to a permanent home

The museum was established by order of the rector on 28 October 1994 on the initiative of the faculty's staff. For many years it had no permanent home and mainly showed temporary exhibitions. It received exhibition rooms in 2003 with the opening of the new building, and began regular operation in 2005.

What to see

According to the museum's website, the collections are shown in 17 permanent exhibitions, which form a story of the history of the Earth and the evolution of life. In the main hall stands the exhibition “Minerals - Jewels of the Earth” with specimens from around the world, and a dark room on meteorites tells of cosmic matter reaching the Earth, with the Sołtmany meteorite.

Several exhibitions are palaeoenvironmental dioramas: “In the World of Silesian Prehistoric Dinosaurs” (Krasiejów), “In the Land of the Dragon” (Zawiercie) and “Nothosaurs” from Mikołów, Żyglin and Sosnowiec. There are also the exhibitions “The Origin of Fossil Fuels”, “The Devonian - Golden Age of Fauna and Flora”, “The Evolution of the Feather” and “Between Eve and Us” on the evolution of hominids. In the hall stand models of a triceratops and a coelophysis, and outside a model of a tyrannosaur.

Lapidarium

A lapidarium is being created next to the building, that is, a geological and natural educational park. Among the greenery stand boulders weighing several tonnes, each representing a different type of rock: granites, labradorite, gabbro, basalt and porphyry, as well as “Szydłowiec” sandstone, “Zygmunt” conglomerate, Devonian limestones with fossil coral reef fauna, serpentinite and gneiss.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Będzińska 60, Sosnowiec, about 3 km from the centre. Next to it is the “Pogoń Akademiki” stop.
• Opening hours differ in the museum's materials, and some of the exhibitions have separate rules of access. Check the current hours on the website mnoz.us.edu.pl before your visit.
• Organised groups and museum lessons are booked by email, according to information on the museum's website.
• Nearby: the Museum in Sosnowiec (about 700 m) and Sielec Castle.