Urretxu Museum of Minerals and Fossils

1997/06/01 Urkizu, Urtzi Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Museoak

Urretxu City Council opened the Aizpurua Enea House of Culture in January 1987. XVIII. It is a house built in the nineteenth century and with a dense history. However, we have focused on the Museum of Minerals, Fossils and Stones, located on the ground floor of the House of Culture. Nicasio Aguado Ayerdi offered ten years ago to the City Council a beautiful collection of minerals and fossils, which has allowed students, teachers, experts and curious to approach the interesting world of natural sciences.

Urretxu Museum of Minerals and Fossils

In 1991 the collection of stones was added to the previous ones, since in schools stones are studied together with fossils and minerals.

Over time, the museum has improved its offer, incorporating new pieces and completing existing collections, acquiring great importance the didactic field. The infrastructure, diffusion and service of the museum have also improved significantly.

However, those responsible estimate that the museum did not have sufficient performance. As a result, last year the Artelatz group developed an action plan to achieve the following objectives: The renovation of the life of the Museum of Mineralogy, the provision of didactic material to the museum and the improvement of its management and exterior aspect. They have given great importance to teaching collections directed to teachers; for the teachers of Compulsory Secondary Education, precious collections, panels, tools, samples and suggestions have been prepared. In this way, students have the opportunity to know the most relevant aspects about minerals, fossils and stones. This teaching material can be used in the museum itself, rented for a given term or purchased in the form of a suitcase.

Attractive exhibition hall

Following with the aim of being especially pleasant for students, a spectacular exhibition hall has been enabled. We can distinguish three collections:

Minerals and minerals Minerals

On the one hand are the explanatory panels (mineral properties, structure, industrial application and as energy source). On the other hand, there is a showcase dedicated to the minerals of Euskal Herria (ordered in the main groups: oxides, hydroxides...). Finally, the students will discover the hardness, the plating, the magnetism and the radioactivity of the minerals through the exercises carried out in the play workshops.

Stones stones of stones

In the interactive panel you can see sedimentary, magnetic and metamorphic rocks. Fragments of this type of stones are exposed.

Fossils Fossils Fossils

In this collection three parts are distinguished: the panel of geological time, fossils sorted by time criteria and life on the planet.

In addition to the exhibition hall, the museum has several complementary rooms:

1. Library (with bibliography and specific documentation for studies and research).
2. Audiovisual room.
3. Conference room.
4. Warehouse.
5. Hall of didactic workshops.

Visit in different ways

The Urretxu museum is full of explanatory panels. In the image you can see one of these interactive panels and different types of stones.

Urretxu Museum of Minerals and Fossils

The museum is open to all audiences and everyone can make the visit as they want. However, the organized visits are the most numerous and the most appropriate to take the museum. Three are the ways of visiting students and teachers:

Guided tour Guided tour of the city

A monitor explains the main contents of the museum (about an hour and a half). The following are offered to visitors a series of exercises and workshops to acquire basic knowledge on the subject.

Tips on the use of the educational suitcase + guided tour

Fifteen days before going to the museum, the monitor goes to school to teach them how to use the didactic suitcase. The faculty, with the help of the museum material, works the subject in class and when the students are ready they go to the museum. The organisers have found that previous training is very adequate to properly understand the subject.

Pedagogical tips + guided tour + excursion

The second option can be completed with a geological excursion. The excursion can also be carried out in the country where the centre is located, but for this purpose a geologist must carry out a previous investigation.

Approaching the Mineralogy and Paleontology

Children have the opportunity to know the stones, minerals and fossils of Euskal Herria. In the educational workshop students learn playing.

Urretxu Museum of Minerals and Fossils

The museum staff organizes numerous activities throughout the year with the aim of bringing people closer to the world of mineralogy and paleontology. With this they want to allow us to know better our origin and the place in which we live.

Among the programmed activities highlights the week of minerals and fossils that is celebrated in autumn. It has been organized since the creation of the House of Culture and the Museum, so this year will be the tenth. This week is born as a revitalizing and diffusing instrument of the museum, through different cultural events related to Mineralogy and Paleontology. This year there will also be exhibitions, excursions, courses, educational and informative activities. In addition, a special room will be enabled in which you can see, buy and modify natural minerals and fossils, precious stones and imitation jewelry. The educational stands prepared by the City Council, the José María Iparragirre Institute, the Liceo Garaialde, the University of Valladolid and the Association of Jewels of the Basque Country will also be presented. For the enjoyment of the little ones is organized the contest of Artificial Mine and Gold Search.

The teacher is offered the necessary help to work on the subject in class before making the visit to the museum. In this way the visit is more effective.

Urretxu Museum of Minerals and Fossils

We cannot fail to mention the permanent monographic exhibition that is being completed on lead. This exhibition aims to show in its entirety the physical properties of lead, its chemical composition and its location in the Basque Country. Undoubtedly, the exhibition would be a good complement to what can be seen in the Mirandaola ironworks of Legazpi.

In addition to the exhibition on lead, other monographic topics are being worked that will soon be exposed for everyone. We can therefore ensure that to know minerals, fossils and stones we only have to approach Urretxu. Without forgetting that the museum is especially aimed at students and teachers. Thanks to its teaching material, the teachers already have a brooch!