Archaeological mines park of San Silvestro
MUSEUM OF MINING EQUIPMENT
Time: 15 minutes
The Museum of Mining Equipment is located in the service building of Pozzo Earle, the main mine shaft of the Archaeological Mines Park of San Silvestro, used from the mid 19th century until the 1980s.
In the building there is the winch room, the traction unit for the cabins, called cages, that transported minerals and miners between the six levels of the mine, reaching depths of 200 metres. Jackhammers to drill the rocks, compressors, the rock “cores” extracted during drilling operations as well as tractors and wagons to transport the minerals are also on display in the museum and tell the story of the techniques used in the final period of the mines in Val di Cornia.
MINER’S MUSEUM
Time: 15 minutes
In the Archaeological Mines Park of San Silvestro, next to the entrance to the Lanzi – Temperino tunnel there is the Morteo, the metal “hut” used by the miners as a changing room and canteen.
This small building houses the Miner’s Museum, an exhibition of photographs and documents that illustrate the life, work, diseases and the trade union struggles that the miners of Campiglia, in the Val di Cornia, were engaged in at the end of the 1970s to prevent the closure of the mine.
The hardships and value of this noble craft is recounted in a video that unites past and present, the miners and whoever now sits down on the benches in the Morteo to listen to their story.
LANZI – TEMPERINO TUNNEL
Time: 50 minutes
The Lanzi-Temperino tunnel with its mining train is one of the main attractions of the Archaeological Mines Park of San Silvestro.
Originally a tunnel for mining prospecting in Val di Cornia in the late 19th century, it was completed by the Società italiana Miniera di Campiglia Spa in the 1960s.
In the tunnel, visitors can admire the shapes and colours of the minerals and the large and fascinating central extraction hall.
The minerals extracted in the enormous underground mines were loaded onto wagons and transported along the reduced gauge railway line laid in the tunnel to the Valle Lanzi crushing and flotation plants.
The same route is now followed on board the mining train, discovering an extraordinary underground world and the vastness of the modern extraction rooms, to arrive at Valle Lanzi and the path that leads to the medieval village of Rocca San Silvestro.
What you need to know before the tour
The temperature inside the mine is 14°C so it is important to bring a long-sleeved sweater or jacket with you, above all in summer.