House of Minerals

Hiša mineralov

“The House of Minerals” represents a small piece of the endless treasures of the Earth. It has existed since 2001 as part of the Velenje Museum in an old house under the castle wall in Staro Velenje. It exhibits the largest such collection in Slovenia with over 2,700 exhibits and 912 minerals from across the world which were collected by Jože Rihtar, a miner from the Velenje Mine. Rihtar began to create his collection when he was still at high school. He searched, excavated, exchanged and bought minerals across the world, but mainly in Slovenija in the Šaleška Valley.

The collection features a few extraordinary geologic exhibits, for example a piece of amber which Rihtar excavated in the Velenje mine, a Japanese rainbow carbuncle, quartz crystal from Hrastnik near Škofja loka and the largest barites found in Slovenia.

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