Scientific Speleological Museum of the Grotta Gigante ()

The new Visitors Centre of the show Grotta Gigante (, Italy) blends in harmoniously with the surroundings and was built using construction materials and methods in line with the local Karst tradition. The building consists of three areas characterised by different architectural and functional features: a multifunctional area on the ground floor (ticket office, multipurpose room, guide and service room), a waiting room and the exhibition areas on the ground and first floors. In the exhibition areas you will find the Scientific Speleological Museum, which includes various sections.

Ground floor

1st room Introduction to the Museum: Speleology; Grotta Gigante Visitors Centre; Geomorphological view Geology: Orogenesis; Rock formation; Karst phenomena; Cave phases Palaeontology: Main Pleistocene site in the Trieste Karst; Ursus speleaus group; Ursus ingressus; Pachycrocuta brevirostris Archaeology: Archaeological whose materials are presented in the Museum; The Prehistory; The Paleolithic; The Mesolithic; The Neolithic; Protohistory; Eneolithic; Bronze age (Brotlaibidol); Iron age; La Tène; Finds in the Grotta Gigante; The Roman period.

2nd room Biology Zoology: Bats; Fauna in the Trieste Karst caves Botany: Flora in the Trieste Karst caves

First floor

Scientific researches conducted in the Grotta Gigante site: The Grotta Gigante as a scientific lab; Survey using Laser scanner technology; High resolution 3D topographic survey of the Grotta Gigante using aerial and terrestrial Lidar technology; The reduction of gravity acceleration above the Grotta Gigante explaned by a 3D model of the cavity; The Trieste Seismographic station; Friuli experimental seismic network; Geodetic pendulums; Meteorology and climate; Radon; Karst dissolution; Hydrogeology of the Classical Karst; the Karts aquifer monitoring network

The Scientific Speleological Museum of the Grotta Gigante is in contact with universities, museums and research institutes, both in Italy and abroad (Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Croatia). Visitors have the opportunity to discover the peculiarities of the local Karst territory, and in particular the use of caves and shelters from the dawn of history to the present age. The explorations and excavations carried out so far tell us, more or less precisely, when a cave or a rock shelter were used; why and how this happened remains a mere hypothesis in most cases. The museum exhibits local archaeological/palaeontological finds from the Grotta Gigante and the near caves. The museum also testifies to the scientific research carried out by universities and institutes inside the cave or in the Visitors Centre area. The museum’s finds, as well as the archaeological, geological, palaeontological and technical/scientific information boards are there to encourage visitors to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the underground world.

The following institutions and bodies were consulted and took part in setting up the museum: A.R.P.A. F.V.G.-O.S.M.E.R. Osservatorio meteorologico regionale; Civici Musei di Storia ed Arte di Trieste; F.E.S.N. Friuli Experimental Seismic Network; I.S.MAR Istituto di Scienze Marine; Karst Research Institute ZRC SAZU-Postojna; Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo: Soprintendenza per i beni archeologici del ; Ministero dell’istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca; Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Trieste; Museum of Manching, Germany; O.G.S. Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale; Protezione civile; Sapienza Università di Roma; U.M.F.V.G. Unione meteorologica del Friuli Venezia Giulia; Università di Trieste: Dipartimento di Matematica e Geoscienze, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Dipartimento di Studi umanistici; University of Vienna: Department of Anthropology, Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology;

Attached: - Brotlaibidol, photo by Alessio Fabbricatore - Brief explanation in German and English about the Brotlaibidol - A set of 33 information boards accompanying the showcases that display (Italian and English) the finds discovered in the Grotta Gigante and the Trieste Karst caves, as well as boards regarding scientific researches conducted in the Grotta Gigante site.

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