The "Sandra Forni" Garden & Museum is a project set up by the Geological, Seismic and Soil Survey of Emilia-Romagna Region to offer people a space where they can meet up but also further their knowledge of the territory.
Regional policies support the need to develop a culture that views the environment and the territory as our collective heritage, encouraging individual behaviour guided by respect for the environment and sustainable development. These are the guiding principles behind the Garden & Museum, which aims to educate visitors on our region’s territory, the outstanding beauty of its landscapes and its rich geological heritage.
The Museum houses an impressive collection of minerals, rocks, soils and fossils taken from across the region. The guided tour of the collection illustrates the principal notions of Earth Science and the key stages in the geological history of Emilia-Romagna.
Visiting the geological garden, which overlooks the Third Tower of the Region, visitors can enjoy a virtual stroll back in time thanks to the various stages marked by the rocks of the Emilia-Romagna Apennines, tasked with recounting the geological history of the region; a history which, starting some 250 million years ago, led to the formation of the Apennine chain, the Po plain and the Adriatic coast.

Facebook page of the Geological Museum 

The “Sandra Forni” Geological Garden & Museum is open from 7.30 am to 7 pm.
Visitors can enjoy free access to the site, but are asked to show some formal identification at the welcome desk beforehand.
Guided tours are available for groups and school groups and can be arranged with the Admin Office of the Geological Survey, by phoning 051-5274792 or, by e-mail, at segrgeol@regione.emilia-romagna.it.

The Museum (indoor section)

The Museum begins with the fossils section which describes the process by which fossils are formed and their importance in the reconstruction of environments of the past.
Palaeontology is the science that studies fossils and has enabled us to reconstruct the evolution of life on our planet.
The fossils on show document a period in our region’s geological history, the Pliocene (5.3 million years ago), when the landscape was dominated by a great sea that filled the area corresponding to the current day Po Plain, extending all the way to the newly emerged Apennines.

The section dedicated to soil illustrates the variety of soils present in our territory. The soil occupies the uppermost part of the earth’s surface, it supports the life of plants, animals and man and is therefore one of humanity’s greatest assets. Emilia-Romagna is characterized by eight main land units, each featuring a distinct soil type with specific characteristics. From the Apennines to the coast, the region reveals a succession of striking, sometimes vastly differing landscapes which correspond to an even greater variety of soils, all of distinct origin, depth and fertility. Soil study techniques and the work carried out by pedologists, or soil scientists, is also illustrated here. 

The section dedicated to minerals is structured in such a way as to illustrate the fundamental stages in the geology of Emilia-Romagna. It includes minerals belonging to the four rock complexes which best document the geological history: ophiolites, argille scagliose mélange, turbiditic sandstone , messinian gypsum. The exhibition is also designed to appeal to children, with a special, dedicated section in the lower part of each display case.

In addition, a number of displays are dedicated to rare and exceptionally beautiful minerals both from Italy and other parts of the world. The Museum’s collection is extremely prestigious, boasting some rare specimens that are now virtually impossible to find due to the closure of many of the mines that originally unearthed them.

Garden Museum photos gallery

The Garden (outdoor section)

The area outside the tower is dedicated to the “geological garden” where visitors can stroll round and enjoy a virtual journey back through geological time. The guided walk takes in fourteen separate stations where rocks are entrusted with the task of recounting the geological history of Emilia-Romagna.
The rocks in the garden are a significant part of our geological heritage and offer the most eloquent testimony of that history which, starting around 250 million years ago, led to the formation of the Apennines, the Po plain and the Adriatic coast.