New Visitor Center with Dinosaur Exhibit Opens in Komló

The Komlóverzum Visitor Center, home to the town library and museum, now also houses a dinosaur exhibit. The exhibit was established with a government grant of more than HUF 1 billion (EUR 2.5 million). The building’s handover ceremony took place on Wednesday.

With the complete renovation and expansion of the József Attila Town Library and Museum Collection, the largest cultural facility in Komló (northwestern Hungary, at the northern foot of the Mecsek Hills), a nearly 2,200-square-meter visitor center has been established featuring a dinosaur exhibit.

The exhibit, a real tourist attraction, was created here due to the fact that

the first dinosaur finds, the footprint fossils of Komlosaurus carbonis, a species of dinosaur that lived in the Jurassic period in Hungary, were excavated in the mines of the Mecsek Hills and their waste heaps.

Through spectacular installations, visitors can glimpse into the life of the Mecsek Hills 200 million years ago, admire the giant mammoth, archaic humans, Mecsek dinosaurs, and former sea creatures, and learn about the formation and mining of Mecsek black coal.

Norbert Pap, geographer-historian of the University of Pécs, professional manager of the exhibit, said at the opening ceremony that not only the immediate vicinity of Komló, but also the special geological and paleontological values of the entire county can be found in the visitor center.

Dinosaurs from the Triassic period, Komlosaurus from the Jurassic period, fossils from the Zengővárkony area from the Cretaceous period, and from Orfű-Tekeres, primitive dolphins and seals, while mammoths and hyenas from the Ice Age of the Mecsek region will also appear in the exhibition space.

In addition, many peculiarities of mining and the geology of the Mecsek Hills can be seen in other exhibition units; mining work and everyday life, as well as the development of the town are also presented, he listed. According to a vision far exceeding the original plans, the establishment of a “Baranya geopark” could be the medium-term goal, which would even be worthy of the title of world heritage, concluded Pap.

Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/Pécsi Tudományegyetem Szentágothai János Kutatóközpont