Fossilia Meltina

Meltina village, situated on Mt. Monzoccolo in the southwest of the Sarentino Alps between Merano and Bolzano, has its own small museum. It is a permanent exhibition near the Town Hall Square, entirely dedicated to the history of the earth and the fossils and minerals found around the village (1,140 m a.s.l.) and in the quarry on the Giogo di Meltina ridge at more than 1,700 m a.s.l. The exhibition was reconstructed for some months and was reopened in spring 2023.

11 display cases tell about the geology of the Monzoccolo, about millions of years of earth history and the associated geological processes. Other display boards of the Meltina Fossil Exhibition - "Fossilienschau Mölten" in German, "Esposizione di fossili a Meltina" in Italian - present the most beautiful minerals, fossils and geological finds. A highlight are the fossil tree and plant remains, which are about 260 million years old and dated to the younger Permian period.

It is a true journey through time to a world when there was a sea where mountains rise today, where volcanoes erupted and long-extinct animals lived. The fossil show has two levels connected by stairs. And how to reach it? It is located near the Town Hall Square, a little above there is a car park. Meltina is also easily accessible by public transport (bus line no. 204).