The museum is set up in the headquarters of the Park Authority, located at the “casermette” in the locality of Colfiorito, a small mountain village in the municipality of Foligno. Opened in 2006, it serves as an exhibition and observation site for the main floristic and faunistic species present in the Park. The itinerary is completed by a visit to the Colfiorito Archaeological Museum (MAC), mainly dedicated to the population settled during the prehistoric era in the Colfiorito Plateau. The Museum is organized into seven sections: the first, archaeological, traces the history of the territory from the Iron Age to the medieval period; the others focus on natural sciences. The paleontological section displays a collection of Pleistocene fossils, including a hippopotamus (Hippopotamus antiquus) recovered in Colle Curti and dating back 700,000 years. The palynological section illustrates the evolution of climate and vegetation over the last 25,000 years through studies conducted on lake sediments, which have highlighted the progressive aridification of the Colfiorito Plateaus. Next is the zoological section, dedicated to local insects, particularly dragonflies and butterflies. Another sector, with multimedia stations, deepens knowledge about the birds present in the Park, especially rare and threatened species such as the bittern, which frequent mainly the marshland, recognized as a site of international interest for its humidity conditions. The museum route is now enriched by the “Antarctica” section, created following a national research program aimed at establishing an interregional observatory on that continent.
Information about the Naturalistic Museum of the Colfiorito Park
Via Adriatica – Loc.Colfiorito,
06034 Foligno (Perugia)
0742 681011
parcocolfiorito@tiscali.it
https://www.parks.it
Source: MIBACT
