Nature Reserve and Geological Museum, Tata

With an exhibition of 200 million year old geological strata and the calcified or petrified remains of the marine and terrestrial life of the period, this is one of the finest outdoor museums in Hungary.

The Geological Nature Reserve near the Tata Calvary Hill is an exceptional example of in situ outdoor geological and palaentological exhibitions. Of the geological periods, the museum has displays of the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous ages.

At the outdoor museum of geology, the geological items are complemented by a botanical collection consisting of some 600 plant communities. The landscaped area with its Transylvanian wooden gate carved by Ernő Cs. Kiss for the millecentenary celebrations offer an excellent spot for a rest or for a walk to discover the fossils (shells, snails, etc.) in the white, red and green-grey limestone, flint, sandstone and marl strata of the old quarry.

Here in the park the entrance to a hydrothermal karst cave is found, named the Megalodus Cave by its discoverers after the large number of fossilised Triassic Megalodus shells found in its walls. In a pavilion in the upper part of the park, evidence of flint mining for tools by prehistoric man is on display, while a smaller outdoor display in the lower section presents the useful minerals and ores of Hungary.

The 45-metre Jakab Fellner lookout tower is nearby.