The region of the Slovak Paradise and Spiš boasts a rich mining history and culture. Extensive collections of valuable objects, artefacts and works of art can be found in several museums. You can combine the discovery of mining history with a nature walk.
Spiš Museum – Spišská Nová Ves
Former medieval town hall later the seat of the Province XVI of the Spiš towns, the so-called ” Provincial House” invites visitors into its bowels to get to know the nature, culture and history of the Spiš region. The valuable expositions and exhibitions of the Museum of Spiš offer an authentic view of the region, its natural beauty and rich cultural life.
Mining Museum and Mining Educational Trail Gelnica
Mining Museum in Gelnica is housed in the charming historic building of the former town hall. It has been revealing the treasures of the miners to curious visitors since the year 1938. In addition to Mining the collections will also take you to the world of of geology. They will introduce you to the rich history of the town and its surroundings. You will also learn many interesting facts about the guilds.
On the way from the museum, take a stroll along the rambling path up into the hills towards Turzov Lake. In addition to the nature of Gelnica, you will also discover an interesting Educational mining trail. It will guide you through the traces of old mining tunnels, the oldest of which were built as early as the 15th century.
The biggest attraction of the nature trail is The Jozef Heritage Shed, part of whose underground space is open to the public. Switch on your torches and explore the mysterious depths of the Gelnica underground!
Next to the Turzov lake you can still see the remains of the once famous Gelnica Spathat have unfortunately succumbed to the ravages of time. Thirteen kilometres long, the Mining Nature Trail is smoothly connected to the “Oxygen route”. It guides those interested in hiking through the most beautiful sightseeing spots in the surroundings of Gelnica. You can climb up to the highest hill in the area – The sharp hill, or to the top Klippberg.
Educational trail along the traces of mining in Dobšiná
The mining past of the town Dobšiná present two routes of the Educational Trail along the traces of mining in Dobšiná. They were built in 2012 with a total length of up to 10 660 metres. Nine information boards along the route will introduce you to remarkable places related to mining activities and the remains of technical monuments around the town.
Poráč Mining Trail and Mining Open Air Museum
Accept the invitation to look into the mining past of the village Porac. Take one of three tours Porac Mining Trail. The circuits are graded according to difficulty, so you can choose the most suitable route according to your physical and time capabilities.
Individual tours will take you through the most valuable technical monuments associated with mining activity. You will see the entrances to the mining tunnels, the remains of the ropeway, the mining bell tower, the gaps or the mining towers.
In the vicinity of the recreation centre Porac park you can come across a small Mining open-air museum, which includes a reconstruction of a mine train track, models of mining machines and interactive demonstrations of the use of water for work in the mine. “Bring to life” a miner mining ore or a mine knocker with a stream of water. The perfect place to visit with naughty kids 🙂
Mining nature trail Hnilčík
Hills nearby Hnilcika since ancient times attracted miners with its ore deposits, which were among the largest and most important in Slovakia. Local mining sites such as Bindt, Roztoky, or Gretla are known to experts throughout Central Europe.
While in America there was the well-known “gold rush” in the vicinity of Hnilčík, there was again the iron and copper rush. In the course of 19. and 20th centuries, important mining plantand multinational metallurgical companies using the most advanced processes and techniques for mining and processing iron and copper ore at that time.
As a reminder of these times, the Hnilčík mining nature trail. It consists of a permanent exhibition in a wooden two-storey building near the municipal office in the Jerohuta section, an underground mining exhibition located in the Ľudmila Shed at the end of the local Roztoky section and a system of nature trails with information panels in the local Roztoky, Bindt, Gretla – Cechy and the valley of the Železný potok (Iron Stream) sections.
