Il Museo, founded in 1980 thanks to the commitment of the Gruppo Paleontofilo Fidentino, is mainly dedicated to fossils brought to light in the Stirone Stream. In the three rooms, a large collection of fossils is exhibited, especially shells and skeletal parts of mollusks, starfish, and whale remains that document the geological history of the Parma area and represent the consequence of the slow erosion of the Stirone Stream, today partly protected with the establishment of the Regional Fluvial Park.
In the first room, called the Stirone room, the theme of fossils is introduced with specimens from various parts of the world, starting with some trilobites dating back over 500 million years. The exhibition continues with finds from the Tortonian stage, the oldest of the outcrop, up to the Lower Pleistocene, a fossil trunk about 750,000 years old, and fossils found in various areas around Fidenza and Veronese.
In the Paleobotany Room, plant fossils related to the Stirone Fluvial Park and other regions of Italy and Europe are admired. A precious finding, about one meter long, of Juniperus (juniper) encrusted with barnacles and oysters, recovered and treated for conservation, is exhibited for the first time in October 2003. A model depicts a project for the open-air Museum of San Nicomede on the Stirone, developed by the Consortium of the Stirone Park in 1976 and largely realized.
In the third and last room, various minerals and fossils from Italy and the world are featured, including a slab of starfish. A multimedia station finally allows the presentation of documentaries supporting the museum visit.
Information about the Stirone Fossil Museum
Via Costa, 2 (c/o Palazzo delle Orsoline),
43036 Fidenza (Parma)
0524526326
paleofid@libero.it
https://xoomer.alice.it/paleosito
Source: MIBACT
