The Museum of Earth Sciences of the University of Siena collects the cartographic, geological, mineralogical, petrographic, paleontological and anthropological collections present since the 1960s in the Institute of Geology and Paleontology (now the Department of Physical, Earth and of the Environment). Over the years, the collections have been organized and integrated with didactic and museum samples of fossils, minerals and rocks up to a total of several thousand units. Among these, we find a significant collection of ornamental rocks with even large rock slabs and numerous didactic and interactive aids.

Among the peculiarities of the Museum, in the mineralogical section, some great samples must be highlighted: a barite crystal of over 50 cm in length which represents a world record for the Museum, being the largest of this species found to date. And again, two large samples of sulfur from Sicilian mines, a sample of botroidal malachite from the former Congo and a quartz crystal, including shorlite crystals, from Brazil.

The development of recent years has allowed the Siena Museum of Earth Sciences to assume, in addition to its institutional value, also an informative role in favor of the external public, consisting of a significant educational offer. In fact, the activities include the commitment to enhance the sites of significant geo-mineralogical interest and the research and conservation of the mineralogical heritage of Tuscany and in particular of the province of Siena.