ODTÜ Jeoloji Müzesi

About ODTÜ Jeoloji Müzesi

ODTÜ Jeoloji Müzesi is the geology museum of the Department of Geological Engineering at Middle East Technical University (METU), on the university campus in Çankaya. According to the department, it was founded in 1995 and fills a 150 square metre corridor on the ground floor of the department building, where it displays rocks, minerals, fossils, gemstones and historical mining items. The collection draws on thousands of mineral, rock and fossil specimens gathered by department members and graduates since the department was founded in 1963, together with donations from collectors. Three showcases at the entrance to the main corridor hold some of the most typical and attractive mineral specimens. Along the corridor, minerals are grouped by chemical composition, from native elements to sulphides, sulphates, oxides, carbonates and silicates, with a separate case for the colourful agates of Çubuk, north of Ankara. Other cases cover gemstones such as obsidian, turquoise, amethyst, garnet, lapis lazuli and malachite, ore and industrial minerals, and igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. A fossil section includes Eocene nummulites from Haymana, Triassic ammonites and orthoceras from Esenboğa and Miocene leaf impressions from Kızılcahamam. The museum also shows one of the oldest geological maps of Turkey, prepared by Tchihatcheff in 1867, and old laboratory equipment once used by students, including a 1940 UV lamp, a 1950 theodolite and a 1963 petrographic microscope. A large wall cladding shows industrial building stones from Turkey and other countries. Entry is free. The Ministry of Education out-of-school learning page lists the museum as open on weekdays from 09:00 to 17:00 and closed at weekends, and says visitors are received by appointment; school groups should book at least a week ahead through the Department of Geological Engineering.