Jurassic Museum - MUJA

Latitude: 43.5013733 Length: -5.2741241
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The Jurassic Museum of Asturias (MUJA) is located on the Rasa de San Telmo plateau, in the municipality of Colunga , halfway between the municipal capital and the town of Lastres, with access via a sloping road from the AS-257. From this promontory, there are magnificent views of the eastern Asturian coast , and the museum becomes an omnipresent viewpoint overlooking the Jurassic landscape at its feet, which it has chosen to catalog. Thus, the museum's first merit lies in its exterior vantage point, offering a panoramic view of the sea that unfolds before us.

MUJA architecture

Its unique architecture, shaped like a three-toed footprint, is its second major merit and raises many more expectations. Once inside, we find the interior just as spectacular, with spacious and open areas that encompass an important era in the life of planet Earth: the Mesozoic, including the Jurassic period when dinosaurs roamed. We walked along its elevated walkways and were captivated by the replicas (some twenty of them) that fill the space. The central scene depicts a pair of Tyrannosaurus rexes mating. They are over 12 meters tall, and if they were flesh, they would weigh over 10 tons.

We found other grandiose replicas , such as that of the Giganotosaurus, the largest of the known carnivorous dinosaurs , native to Argentina. We also saw a Deinonychus (Terrible Claw), a Jurassic animal related to birds and a paradigm of predators.

These colossal structures are a clear analogy for the building's sheer size, whose total area across the first floor, ground floor, and basement approaches 5.000 square meters. The dinosaur's imprint is also reflected in the three immense elliptical vaults that form the ceiling of the structure. A massive claw to trap us inside for quite some time.

What do we see in the MUJA?

The ground floor and first floor are laid out in accordance with the aforementioned vaults, divided into three main zones based on the Mesozoic Era (Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Triassic). In the basement, over 400 tons of fossils from the Jurassic coast are still stored, awaiting proper cataloging and subsequent exhibition in the museum.

On the first floor, we find space for a temporary exhibition hall, a waiting room, public restrooms, private offices for the museum's administration and management, general storage areas, and workshops and general building facilities. It also houses the museum's collections, a library, a laboratory, and a research and restoration workshop for working with paleontological material.

On the ground floor, we find the lobby, an audiovisual room, and the entrance to the permanent exhibition hall, featuring graphic, textual, and fossil displays from the period before the Mesozoic, the Mesozoic itself, and the Jurassic in particular . At the rear of this floor, an auditorium with a capacity of one hundred people has been planned. This hall is designed to accommodate various functions related to the MUJA's scientific and educational activities: 2D and 3D film screenings, multimedia presentations, slide and transparencies, and all the necessary equipment for conducting courses, seminars, or panel discussions.

In terms of content hub It must be said that time is the great thread of the MUJA.
A temporal sequence that covers the three major periods of the Mesozoic: Triassic (250-205 million years before our era), Jurassic (205-140 million years) and Cretaceous (140-65 million years). There is a special dedication to the different dinosaur faunas during the Mesozoic and to the transformations of European geography throughout this era, with a module dedicated to explaining the geological history of Asturias. A period, the Asturian, which contains portions of the last 600 million years of life on Earth.

Emphasis will be placed on the coastal Jurassic, from the marine levels of the Gijón Formation to the channels represented in the Lastres Formation. Additionally, the time elapsed since the beginning of life on Earth (3.500–3.800 billion years) is presented in a short introductory module. The aim is to highlight the magnitude of geological time and the dynamics of the evolution of living organisms. Events following the Mesozoic Era (Tertiary and Quaternary, the last 65 million years) are also covered. The goal is to illustrate the factors that have determined the current composition of life on the planet.

Collection of fossils

The MUJA's founding collection comprises approximately 8.000 fossil specimens exclusively from the Asturian Jurassic period. The exhibition is organized into four main sections: dinosaur tracks (around 150 footprints extracted from the region's coastline), vertebrate remains (200 remains of dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, and fish), plant fossils (103 plant remains and 11 large tree trunk fragments), and invertebrate remains (more than 6.000 specimens of ammonoids and brachiopods).

The growth rate of the pieces comprising the collection is presumed to be high. To date, it has grown annually by an average of 30 large specimens and over a thousand smaller ones. The establishment of the MUJA (Jurassic Museum of Asturias), with its research and academic focus, its own staff and infrastructure for surveys, as requested by experts, suggests that the discoveries will undoubtedly continue to increase.

The Asturian Jurassic Coast had been calling for a museum of this kind for several years—a spacious and attractive building that would truly showcase the ongoing discoveries. Researchers had also been demanding more resources and better planning for the study; they asserted that with official support, this coast could be awarded the title of the best Jurassic site in Europe . Currently, the Jurassic Coast awaits UNESCO World Heritage status.

MUJA rates and schedules

· General: 7,21 €.
· Reduced: € 4,75. Groups from 20 people, children from 4 to 11 years old, large families, people with disabilities, people over 65 and ICOM members.
· Wednesday free admission.
· Free entry from 0 to 3 years old and for teachers with previous accreditation.
· Didactic workshops: € 2, without admission to the Museum.
· Audioguide rental: 1,76 €.

You will have a discount on the general rate if you have any of these cards: Fnac, School Card, European Youth Card, Asturias Culture Club, Passport of the Science Museums North Route, Club de mi Caja (Caja Rural Asturias), Cultural Passport, REAJ, Asociación large families Asturias, Euro 6000 discount coupon.

· FEBRUARY, and FROM NOVEMBER 2 TO DECEMBER 31
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 14:30 p.m.
Saturdays, Sundays and opening holidays, from 10:30 a.m. to 18:00 p.m.
Monday and Tuesday closed, except December 6.
Closed: December 24, 25 and 31 and from January 1 to 31.

· FROM MARCH 1 TO JUNE 30 AND FROM SEPTEMBER 1 TO NOVEMBER 1
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 17:00 p.m.
Saturdays, Sundays and opening holidays, from 10:30 a.m. to 18:30 p.m.
Monday and Tuesday, closed, except October 31 and November 1.

· JULY AND AUGUST
Every day from 10:30 a.m. to 19:30 p.m.

· It is recommended to purchase the ticket online through the website ; or through the telephone sales service by calling 985 185 860 , available from Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 14:00.

Source: Jurassic Museum of Asturias