GEOsfera in Jaworzno

In the walls of the former Sadowa Góra quarry in Jaworzno, quarrying exposed the bones of a nothosaur – a marine reptile from around 230 million years ago. On the quarry floor, a rippled stretch of Triassic seabed has survived, probably shaped by tropical hurricanes. Today the site is home to GEOsfera, a free education park open around the clock, with life-size reptile models, a sensory garden, a brine graduation tower and a playground.

History: from cement to a dinosaur park

The first records of stone extraction on Sadowa Góra date from the 18th century, but intensive quarrying lasted from 1954 until the late 1990s. The limestone went, among other places, to the Szczakowa cement works; in total more than 7 million tonnes of rock were removed, leaving a pit of about 24 hectares. It was this extraction that revealed the site's geological value. In 2010 the first fragment of a nothosaur rib found here was described, and the area joined the "DinoSilesia" programme searching for Triassic vertebrates. The GEOsfera Ecological and Geological Education Centre opened in 2014 in the western part of the quarry and covers about 8 hectares.

What to see

• Megaripple marks – a section of fossilised seabed with wave-like ridges, protected in a display pavilion,
• a dinosaur park with life-size models, including nothosaurs and a teratosaurus,
• the quarry walls, with exposed Triassic limestone that has yielded fossils of sponges, sea lilies, sea urchins, bivalves, fish and marine reptiles,
• a sensory garden with a heather bed and plant labels also in Braille,
• a brine graduation tower (since 2019), a viewing walkway, an amphitheatre and a barbecue area,
• the SOWA Science Centre, opened in 2022 together with the Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw.

Interesting facts

GEOsfera has no formal geopark status, yet in 2018 it won the main "Geology 2018" award from Poland's Ministry of the Environment. In the same year it drew more than 125,000 visitors. Around 42,000 plants have been planted on the site, and wild orchids grow in the meadows.

Getting there and practical information

Admission is free, and the grounds are lit all night, so you can visit at any time. Take PKM Jaworzno bus 304 to the "GEOsfera" stop; drivers will find parking right next to the centre. There is a wheelchair-accessible toilet in the centre building. Cycling is not allowed inside GEOsfera – a marked route runs around it instead.

Tripto tip

Start at the megaripple pavilion and then walk to the quarry walls – it makes it much easier to picture why marine reptiles turn up in Jaworzno. Allow 1.5–2 hours for a walk with children and a stop at the playground, and if you plan to visit the SOWA Science Centre, check its programme in advance.