"Victor Gorduza" County Museum of Mineralogy, Baia Mare

The "Victor Gorduza" County Museum of Mineralogy stands at 8 Bulevardul Traian in Baia Mare and is run by the Maramureș County Council. Its collection comes from the non-ferrous ore deposits of the Oaș-Gutâi-Țibleș area. According to CIMEC, the museum holds about 16,000 specimens, of which about 980 are on display (Wikipedia gives about 19,000 and about 1,000 respectively). The mineral collection was started in 1968 on the initiative of Professor Victor Gorduza, and in 1976 a natural sciences department specialising in mineralogy was set up within the Maramureș County Museum. The main exhibition opened on 6 November 1989 in the building on Bulevardul Traian, and on 10 December 1992 the museum became a separate institution. Victor Gorduza directed the museum from its foundation until 2010. After his death in August 2014, the County Council decided that the museum should bear his name. The museum occupies a modern building completed in 1986. The ground floor holds the scientific part of the exhibition, with three sections: petrography, mineralogy and ore deposits. The upper floor displays the rarest specimens, known as "mine flowers". In 2011 a new wing opened, with rooms for temporary exhibitions, a conference room, an educational workshop, the library, the archive and storage and conservation areas. According to CIMEC, the museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 to 17:00 and closed on Mondays.