YEKATERINBURG

MUSEUMS. Geological Museum
 

There is a huge and unique collection of underground wealth of Urals is accumulated here. You can see 600 from 800 kinds of minerals known in Urals. You'll see the giant rock crystal just entering! That is the hugest and most beautiful rock crystal shown in the museums of Russia and Europe, its weight is 784 kg and it's 170 sm of height!

There are five large departments devoted to mineralogy and crystallography, common and historical geology, petrography, great variety of mineral samples. 

Let's have a look at expositions for a while.

Hall of Crystallography and Mineralogy. You'll see precious and ornamental stones of Urals: collection of quarts (colorless, smoked, morion, citrine and amethyst), red-brown stones, green minerals (malachite), garnets and many other minerals. Two malachite vases made in style of russian mosaic by Yekaterinburg craftsmen in 1850 will make an impression on you. Topazes, green beryls, true rubies, blue sapphires and garnets are in a separate case. Gem jade is a nice mineral for painters and jewelers. You'll see inimitable landscape pictures, vases, different office subject made of it. We don't speak about exposition of silver, gold and platina. Collection of meteorites is worth seeing. 

Treasures of soil hall. There is an exhibition of different kinds of gem jade, ores, abraum salts, golden and platina stream gravels here. 

Hall of common and historical geology. Visiting this hall you'll learn history of geology of Urals. Unique collection of carbonate growths as a result of life activity of blue-green algae probably tells us about sea in this area 1.5-2 billion years ago. Pieces of ancient shark dental apparatus, skeleton of mammoth, woolly rhinoceros.

Hall of petrography. Different types of rocks of Ural mountain range are exposed here. 

Halls of jem jade and quartz are on request.