Mining heritage across Europe

Often passed over in favour of more popular tourism destinations, the remnants of the mining industry can be part of an interesting discovery during cultural holidays. The industry has left behind a large amount of tangible and intangible heritage that offers many different experiences and insight all across Europe.

In this blog, we’re showcasing five stories regarding mining heritage and the cultural organisations which preserve it, from five different parts of Europe.

The Banská Štiavnica lizards

The city of Banská Štiavnica has been connected with mining and rich deposits of precious metals since ancient times. Although no one really remembers when exactly it all started, an old legend about little lizards that gave Banská Štiavnica its wealth and fame is part and parcel of Slovakian cultural heritage.

According to the legend, a 13th century shepherd named Ján was one day driving his herd out to pasture. While admiring the view and looking at the animals, he noticed some lizards basking in the sun on a big rock in the distance. He saw two in particular which shone with a kind of strange light as if they were forged from silver or gold. When he tried to get closer, they hid under the boulder. Ján rolled over the rock with great difficulty and soon noticed a lump of gold as huge as a hat hiding under it.

The rumour about this discovery spread easily in the city. People began to converge from everywhere. They dug shafts into the ground, and later created whole mines and settlements next to them. They built beautiful houses, churches, schools and gave birth to a city nestled in a valley, a city that today proudly bears the name Banská Štiavnica.

The UK Miners Strike

Mining heritage is not necessarily limited to caves and machinery, but also to historical events that shaped today’s world, such as the UK Miners Strike of 1984-1985.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) went on strike to oppose the decision of the British Government to close collieries, which would have resulted in mass unemployment. The strike lasted a year, and was supported by many associations.

A noteworthy collaboration was between three valleys in the South of Wales (Neath, Dulais and Swansea) and the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners Association in London. The latter raised almost £23,000 to support families who were on strike by organising fundraising events, and paying mutual visits.

An archive of the London group's work is kept at the People's History Museum in Manchester. It includes the minutes of the weekly meetings, correspondence, press cuttings, publicity material, enamel badges, photographs and the group's banner.

Uranium mines of Eno, Finland

During the Cold War era, when demand for uranium was sky-high, a small mine operated from 1959 to 1961 near Paukkajanvaara, in the municipality of Eno in Finland.

It produced up to 30 tons of uranium concentrate. After the main ore body was exhausted the mine was closed, due to the decreasing demand for the material. The mine had been abandoned until the 1990s, when the area was rehabilitated, lowering the radiation in the site to the normal Finnish background levels.

Today, the site is an important field laboratory where the release of radioactive elements from uranium mining into the environment can be studied, providing knowledge regarding a renewed interest in uranium exploration in Finland.

This mine is currently not open for visits, but a vast variety of tours in many different mines in Finland are possible, such as the wonderful Amethyst Mine in the Pyhä-Luosto National Park, and Tytyri Mine, a still functioning mine near Helsinki, which both offer guided tours for tourists to discover Finland’s rich mining heritage.

The Slovenian Coal Mining Museum

The Coal Mining Museum in Velenje, Slovenia, was founded in 1957 under the patronage of the Cultural Centre Ivan Napotnik Velenje.

Currently, the underground part of the museum is under reconstruction, but it’s possible to visit the above ground part of the mine. The museum offers a 360 experience and allows visitors to learn about coal mining conditions from the early days through to the present.

Dressed in mining clothes, an overcoat, and a helmet, it’s possible to visit the coal mine, going 160 metres deep, and a miner’s apartment. In the underground tunnels it’s also possible to see a vivid demonstration of how the miners’ work looked like in the past and how it does today, becoming familiar with the mine machinery.

Cyprus copper itinerary

Cyprus has rich and significant historical ties with copper.

On a self-driving route, it's possible to visit various copper mines and associated sites. The tour passes through many villages, the Mathiatis Copper Mines and the Museum of Mining Heritage in Kadydata. It tells the fascinating story of how Cyprus was the largest producer and exporter of the metal to the ancient world for many centuries, and its role in shaping the island’s history.

Pure copper was a material fundamental for the development of large civilisations around the island and, by mining it, Cyprus contributed to the technological progress of the entire Mediterranean world and beyond.

The Cyprus Copper Route is an innovative way to visit the island, learn about its history and reveals a history that may not be very well known, but will definitely amaze visitors who are up for a non-conventional tourist experience.

Europe is full of stories regarding mining heritage - and many of them are yet to be discovered.

By encouraging sustainable tourism and the diffusion of lesser known tangible and intangible heritage, we hope to spur the interest both of the institutions to enhance their legacy and tourists to engage with the latter, so that it can become more and more well known as time passes.