The exhibition of the Lesvos Petrified Forest attempts to highlight the value of the unique natural monument of the Aegean by displaying rare fossils of the collection of plant and animal fossils from the research in the area of Western Lesvos. The exhibition includes fossilized trunks, branches, fruits and leaves of a variety of coniferous and angiosperm trees and fossilized bones of animals that lived during the Early Miocene, 20 million years ago.

The exhibition includes sections that present:

  • The process of fossilization and the different types of fossils that can be found in nature.

  • The evolution of life on earth through reconstructions of the palaeo-environment and the most characteristic fossils for each one of the geological eras in the planet’s history.

  • The formation of the forest ecosystem of Aegiis during the Early Miocene.

  • The forests of Sequoia, the largest plant that lived on Earth.

  • The land and marine visiting areas of the Lesvos Petrified Forest.

  • The evolution of flora in Greece with characteristic fossils from all over Greece.

  • The Lesvos Deinotherium, the oldest large mammal in Europe that migrated from Africa to Europe using the land bridges of Aegiis.

The exhibition concludes with a reference to Theophrastus, the philosopher and student of Aristotle who, was born in Lesvos and is considered the father of Mineralogy, Botany and Ecology. The first references of the Petrified Forest can be found in his works.