Aiud Museum of Natural Sciences

The Museum of Natural Sciences in Aiud is the oldest museum of its kind in Romania, established in 1796 within the Colegiul Național Bethlen Gábor by professor Ferenc Benkő (1745–1816), a renowned Transylvanian naturalist and student of Linné's collaborators. The college itself was founded in 1622 by Prince Gabriel Bethlen in Alba Iulia and relocated to Aiud in 1662. The official founding date of the museum is attested by an 18th-century manuscript — the Catalogus Raritatum et Benefactorum — preserved at the Biblioteca Documentară Bethlen in Aiud. The museum currently holds 52 collections, organized across four rooms. The first room presents palaeontology and mineralogy collections — mammoth fossils, a dinosaur tibia, rhinoceros teeth and bones, as well as systematically classified rocks and minerals. The second room displays present-day fauna — invertebrates, fish, reptiles, and butterfly collections from Panama. The third room houses large mammals and birds of prey — kangaroos, a bald eagle, an eagle, and a bird of paradise. The fourth room is dedicated to the evolution of the human skeleton and that of vertebrates. The collections survived the devastation of 1848–1849 and the fire of 1948. Address: Strada Bethlen Gábor nr. 1, first floor, Aiud, județul Alba. Opening hours: Tuesday–Sunday, 8:00–16:00; closed on Mondays. Particularly recommended for natural science enthusiasts and for visits with children.