One day in the Stirone and Piacenzano River Park

A visit to the Park allows the observation of a rich variety of environments: the river basin, the woods, the open areas and the gullies, particularly suggestive from a landscape point of view and rich in plant and animal species.

In addition to the great interest in the natural habitat and the numerous avifauna that populate it (about 40 different species of birds), the Stirone River Park is of singular importance from a paleontological point of view.

Must-sees

• The extraordinary canyon carved out by the stream 
• and the clay layers from which marine fossils emerge

These features form a sort of open-air museum, complete with marked trails and picnic areas, documenting the transition from the Tertiary to the Quaternary period (about 2.5 million years ago), when the sea covered the area.

To know

Guided tours are possible in the park which favor the discovery of particular aspects of this protected area.

The new museum complex MuMAB - Ancient Sea and Biodiversity Museum - is located in the Stirone and Piacenziano Park area, at Podere Millepioppi, and is composed of the union of two previous museums: 

• the "Ancient Sea" Museum set up previously in the Palazzo dei Congressi di Salsomaggiore,
• the Naturalistic Museum of the Stirone Park first present in Scipione Ponte.

The museum houses an interesting collection of fossils and paleontological specimens discovered over the past 30 years by the paleontology enthusiast Raffaele Quarantelli (1930–2004), likely the richest and most significant “modern” fossil collection in Emilia Romagna, if not in the entire Po Valley.

To See

The museum tour takes visitors through various exhibits that recount the discoveries and their significance.

• In the first section, the “Geopaleontological” section, eye-catching graphics illustrate the different phases and findings, while an interactive video station on the wall allows visitors to “travel” through the geological eras.
• In the section dedicated to “lost biodiversity,” the world’s only specimen of the whale “Plesiobalaenoptera Quarantellii” stands out 
• The next “immersive room” transports visitors into the silent, enveloping atmosphere of the underwater world.
• Another interactive station leads to more recent times and explores “marine biodiversity of yesterday and today.”
• The second section, the Biological Section, helps visitors understand the connections between the present and the ancient life forms discovered in the previous rooms.