Museo Mineralogico, Paleontologico e della Zolfara “Sebastiano Mottura”
School museum with about 2,500 minerals, 1,500 fossils and an exhibition on sulphur mining in Sicily, originating from the mining school of Caltanissetta.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
In 1862 the engineer Sebastiano Mottura founded a mining school in Caltanissetta, which he directed from 1868 to 1875. Mottura collected mineral samples from the gypsum-sulphur formation of central Sicily and donated some of them to the school’s teaching museum-laboratory. Over the years the collection grew through exchanges of pieces from Sicilian sulphur mines and donations from directors of sulphur mines and former pupils of the school.
For decades the museum was housed in the school building. On 15 December 2012, on the 150th anniversary of the founding of the school, the new seat was inaugurated: a structure built specially next to the school. The premises belong to the Province of Caltanissetta and are lent to the IISS “Sebastiano Mottura”, which runs the museum activities with its own staff.
The collection includes about 2,500 minerals and 1,500 fossil specimens from various geological epochs, with macrofossils arranged by layer from the Silurian to the Quaternary. The rooms show rare sulphur samples, rocks and historical mining equipment, such as pit headframes (castelletti), mine carts and Gill furnaces, accompanied by panels and vintage photographs on the sulphur economic cycle. The building’s plan is inspired by an aragonite crystal.
Highlights
- About 2,500 minerals, including rare sulphur samples
- About 1,500 fossils arranged from the Silurian to the Quaternary
- Historical sulphur mine equipment: headframes, mine carts and Gill furnaces
- Photographs and panels on the sulphur economic cycle
- Building inspired by an aragonite crystal
Permanent exhibition
- Collezione di minerali, fossili e attrezzature minerarie – Minerals and sulphur samples, fossils and historical equipment of mining in Sicily.
- Operated by
- IISS “Sebastiano Mottura” (locali della Provincia di Caltanissetta)
- Visitors per year
- approx. 5,000
Admission & discounts
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Accessibility
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Kids & families
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Getting there & parking
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Amenities & dining
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Events & venue rental
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Plan your visit
| Good to know | The museum activities are run by the school staff of IISS “Sebastiano Mottura”. For visits please contact the school (+39 0934 592 158, info@itimottura.it). |
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