XXVIII INTERNATIONAL FAIR OF MINERALS, GEMS AND FOSSILS

On the next 25th to 27th of November 2022, from Friday to Sunday, from 10:00 am, another edition of the prestigious INTERNATIONAL FAIR MINERALS, GEMS AND FOSSILS will take place in Coimbra, in what is one of the main national events of this type, with almost three decades of tradition and wide participation by the general public and schools.

The event is organized by the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Coimbra (DCT) with the support of the Museum of Science of the University of Coimbra and aims to provide the university community and the general public with an opportunity of excellence, by being able to visit a vast exhibition -sale with representative specimens of the wonderful natural world of rocks and their minerals. These include numerous examples of precious gems and crystals from quarries around the world, including Portugal, as well as jewelery with semi-precious stones and amulets.

Among gems and crystals of rare aesthetic beauty and collectible interest, there will also be a huge variety of fossils that record different ages and environments in Earth's history, through which the evolution of organisms passed, from dinosaurs and other antediluvian reptiles, petrified fish , trilobites, ammonites, giant ferns and even insects preserved in amber.

The fair will take place in areas of the Science Museum of the University of Coimbra (MC), located on the ground floor of the Colégio de Jesus Building and with free entrance in Largo Marquês de Pombal, opposite the “Chemical Laboratory”, uptown of Coimbra. It has more than two dozen exhibitors and international participation, including the UC Geosciences Nucleus.

As a whole, the event constitutes an invitation for all, fans or those curious about Natural Sciences, to be able to visit spaces at the University of Coimbra linked to its rich museological history of Mineralogy, Geology and Mining Art, of which the DCT and the MC are the heirs. of scientific knowledge and many specimens and objects from the past. In this sense, the INTERNATIONAL FAIR MINERALS, GEMS AND FOSSILS represents the opportunity for any of us, through collecting, or the simple acquisition of an object, to be able to join this natural universe, of which the University of Coimbra is the greatest guarantee of its heritage and an added value for the city of students.