Italy, Switzerland
Monte San Giorgio
Monte San Giorgio by Els Slots
Monte San Giorgio is a mountain at Lake Lugano known for its marine fossils from the Mid-Triassic Period.
At that time (about 240 million years ago), the area had a tropical climate and a sea full of coral, fish, (long-necked) reptiles and turtle-like creatures. Fossils of these animals were found well preserved in what had been a sea basin. The quality of preservation is very high, a number of 'first discoveries' of species have been made here and the site has been studied for a long time.
Community Perspective: The museum in Meride is a worthwhile start, as it holds several fossils found at the site. There’s a trail that starts just outside Meride to take you into the core zone and to the top of Monte San Giorgio.
Site Info
Official Information
- Full Name
- Monte San Giorgio (ID: 1090)
- Countries
- Italy Switzerland
- Status
-
Inscribed 2003
Site history
History of Monte San Giorgio
- 2003: Inscribed
- Inscribed
- 2010: Extended
- To include part in Italy
- WHS Type
- Natural
- Criteria
- viii
Links
- UNESCO
- whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
- whc.unesco.org — whc.unesco.org/
Related Resources
- montesangiorgio.ch — Monte San Giorgio
Community Information
- Community Category
- Paleontology: Non-hominid fossils
Travel Information
Recent Connections
-
Perfect Inscriptions
2003 -
Lagerstätten
"the most importantfossil Lagerstätte a… -
Named after a Mountain
"a wooded mountain, rising to 1,097 m (…
Connections of Monte San Giorgio
- Geography
- Ecology
-
-
Fossils
Monte San Giorgio is the single best known record of marine life in the Triassic period, and records important remains of life on land as well. The property has produced diverse and numerous fossils, many of which show exceptional completeness and detailed preservation. (OUV, crit viii) -
Lagerstätten
"the most importantfossil Lagerstätte among Middle Triassic marine faunas known today" (Nom File)
-
- World Heritage Process
-
-
Perfect Inscriptions
2003 -
Inscribed on a single criterion only
viii. to be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features -
Country gained extra WHS by an extension
Inscribed by Switzerland in 2003. Extended to Italy in 2010 -
Transboundary sites
-
Extended
2010: To include part in Italy
-
- Constructions
-
-
Suspended cable cars
Brusino-Serpiano Cableway (its upper station may just be outside of core zone) / 1958 / 934m, 4 mins / Aerial tramwaySee www.serpiano.ch
-
Purpose Built Visitor Centre
Core Zone - in Swiss village of Meride. Opened 2012 . By Mario Botta
-
- Timeline
-
-
Triassic
Der Monte San Giorgio ist die weltweit bedeutendste Fundstelle für marine Fossilien aus der Mitteltrias (245 bis 230 Mio. Jahren).) Wiki
-
- WHS Hotspots
- Visiting conditions
- WHS Names
-
-
Named after a Mountain
"a wooded mountain, rising to 1,097 m (3,600 feet) above sea level. It has a roughly pyramidal shape, with a steep north edge sloping towards Lake Lugano and a more shallow South Slope extending towards the Po Plain"See en.wikipedia.org
-
News
No news.
Recent Visitors
Visitors of Monte San Giorgio
- Adrian Turtschi
- Afshin Iranpour
- Alberto Rodriguez Gutierrez
- Alessandro Votta
- Alexander Barabanov
- Alexander Lehmann
- Alfons and Riki Verstraeten
- A. Mehmet Haksever
- Ammon Watkins
- Antonio J.
- Argo
- Atila Ege
- BaziFettehenne
- Bin
- Can SARICA
- Carlos Garrido
- Caspar Dechmann
- Cezar Grozavu
- chenqtao
- Chen Taotao
- Cheryl
- Christian Wagner
- Christoph
- Christravelblog
- Claire Bradshaw
- ClaireWhiteley
- Clyde
- Craig Harder
- Csaba Nováczky
- CugelVance
- cwthong
- Cyberczar
- CyBeRr
- dachangjin3
- Dagmara
- Daniela Hohmann
- Daniel C-Hazard
- Daniel Gabi
- Danny L
- Dan Pettigrew
- David Berlanda
- David Marton
- dejulis@hotmail.com
- Dimitar Krastev
- Dimitrios Polychronopoulos
- Dirk-pieter
- Dwight Zehuan Xiao
- Elia Vettorato
- Elliot
- Els Slots
- Erik G
- Errol Neo
- Fabian Teusch
- Fan Yibo
- Farinelli
- fedemarch92
- Femke Roos
- Flexiear
- Frédéric M
- Frederik Dawson
- Gary Arndt
- George Evangelou
- GeorgeIng61
- Harald T.
- Harry Mitsidis
- Hubert
- Iain Jackson
- ih0000
- Ivan Rucek
- Jakob Frenzel
- Janina Lehmann
- Jarek Pokrzywnicki
- Jasam
- Jean Lecaillon
- Jeffrey Chai Ran
- Jens
- Jezza
- Joel on the Road
- john booth
- Jonas Hagung
- Jonas Kremer
- Jonas Martinsson
- Joshuakirbens
- JoStof
- Joyce van Soest
- Judit Dalla
- Juropa
- KarenBMoore
- Kbecq
- Kelly Henry
- Ken DJ
- Kevin McFarland
- Knut
- Lara Adler
- Leontine Helleman
- Linda Sereno
- Lisu Marian
- Little Lauren Travels
- LKERPS
- Loic Pedras
- Luboang
- Lucas Del Puppo
- Lucio Gorla
- Luis Filipe Gaspar
- Maciej Gil
- marcel staron
- Martina Rúčková
- Martin Richardson
- Marty
- Max
- MaYumin
- Michiel Dekker
- MikeMa1999
- Mikita M
- Mikko
- MMM
- Monika and Rini
- MoPython
- Mstrebl1990
- nan
- Nasebaer
- natlefebvre@hotmail.
- Nihal Ege
- orphanos
- PabloNorte
- paolosan82
- patphilly
- Patrik
- Paul Schofield
- Persian Globetrotter
- Petteri
- Philipp Leu
- Philipp Peterer
- phillipmeng
- Pieter Dijkshoorn
- Pink Bunny
- Piotr Wasil
- Rafał Kałczuga
- Ralf Regele
- Randi Thomsen
- Riccardo Quaranta
- Rick Ohm
- Robin Frank
- Roger Ourset
- Rom
- Roman Bruehwiler
- Roman Koeln
- Sabrina Liebehentschel
- Sergio Arjona
- Shandos Cleaver
- SHIHE HUANG
- SirLoydd
- skalec
- Solivagant
- Sophie
- Stanislaw Warwas
- Stetrab
- Stijn
- Svein Elias
- Tarquinio_Superbo
- Thibault Magnien
- Thomas Buechler
- Thomas van der Walt
- Thorben
- TimAllen
- tommasorossotti
- tony0001
- triath
- Truls Brekke
- Tsunami
- Vanessa Buechler
- VLabhard
- WalGra
- Walter
- weggeworfeneleiter
- WILLIAM RICH
- Wojciech Fedoruk
- Xiquinho Silva
- Yevhen Ivanovych
- Zoë Sheng
Community Reviews
Show full reviews
The Museum in Meride was busy with School children on the day I was there. It is updated and very informational. I came by motorcycle from the Balcone d'Italia from where the picture of Monte San Giorgio was taken. There is a 4 1/2 hour loop trail from Meride called Sentiero geo-paleontologico, and another that goes to the peak with 3 hours up and back. With a lack of time I took the 1 1/2 hour trail from Serpiano to Alpe Di Brusino.
Keep reading 0 comments
From Varese, where I also went to the WHS of Sacro Monte of Varese, I took a bus to visit the museum in Besano, Italy.
The photo is a replica of the fossil of the Besano-saur.
From the museum I walked on trail, crossing the border, to the other museum in Meride, Switzerland, stopping at various sites where fossils have been discovered. From the museum in Meride, I also walked to the top of Monte San Giorgio for the great view of the surrounding area.
Now, the walking tour I just described was virtual, with this fantastic CD-ROM the museum in Besano gave me for free. :)
Keep reading 0 comments
I had seen Monte San Giorgio from Lugano and also managed to visit Campione d'Italia in 2012. However I felt that this did not do justice to this WHS so in July 2013 while driving to Italy I visited the small town of Meride. The drive was a pleasant one (several hairpins and great views) and ample parking possibilities. Meride in July is similar to a ghost town, practically empty with the church bells echoing in the narrow streets. The quirky fossil museum of Monte San Giorgio others before me have reviewed has been upgraded and is now an informative 4 storey museum. There are original fossils and photos as well as models, reconstructions and a videoclip which really helped me grasp the OUV of this WHS. After Meride I crossed the border to Italy through Ceresio, Saltrio, Viggiù and Besano (where I visited another fossil museum). Researchers and universities in Italy and Switzerland collaborate with each other to meticulously study the different fossil layers that are unique in Monte San Giorgio because they offer the possibility of studying the evolution of different species of birds, insects, fauna and flora over time.
Keep reading 0 comments
My boyfriend (Lugano native) decided to take me here last week, as he has always wanted to see it and has never had the chance, and he knew that I would love it. We drove around Monte San Giorgio for a little while before he finally stopped and asked for directions from one of the locals. They sent us to Meride, where again, we were unsure where to go. He stopped another local and asked for directions again.
We parked in the main parking lot of Meride just below the vineyards and walked around the town a little bit. It appeared deserted. We found the little museum mentioned in your article, with a little note on a closed door, and went inside. We watched the video and looked around. The fossils that were on display were very well preserved and AWESOME! They also had drawings of what the creatures looked like and what the environment that they were living in at that time probably looked like. A step back in time.
After about 15 minutes in the museum, we wanted to see the site. We walked up the hill to the little church (which was beautiful), dipped our heads in the fountain (it was in the 90s) to cool off and started up the trail to see the fossil site at the top of the mountain. There's a sign that said it was about an hour and a half walk to the site.
The trail was paved with little stones …
Keep reading 0 comments
As this is the first review of Monte San Giorgio at this website, and because it's not your run-of-the-mill tourist attraction either, I had to start from scratch in finding out how to 'visit' it. My conclusion after many hours of Googling is that there are two ways: by car 'from the back' or via a combination of boat and cable car 'from the front'. Visiting is a relative aspect here anyway - the IUCN reports of "boundaries (..that..) cannot be traced in the field". This site is all about fossils that have been taken away to museums a long time ago.
We went by boat from Lugano: 3 or 4 of the excursion boats that tour the lake daily have a scheduled stop at the town of Brusino, at the foot of Monte San Giorgio. It's a pleasant 45-minute trip, on which the real geo-collector also can tick off the Italian enclave of Campione d'Italia.
From Brusino there's a small cable car up the mountain to a panoramic terrace (close to the town of Serpiano). We enjoyed a good cappuccino there and then started walking. Several hikes are signposted from there. I had read about the 6 km long nature trail to Meride (which has a local fossil museum): interesting, but only doable for very experienced hikers. So we opted for the walk down to Meride via the main road. This turned out to be a good choice: it takes about 1h and 20 minutes, mostly through …
Keep reading 0 comments