The mercury mine town — Slovenia's UNESCO dual heritage of lace and 500 years of underground extraction
Idrija is a small town in western Slovenia that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for two distinct reasons: it is home to the world's second largest mercury mine (in operation from 1490 until 1995), and it is the centre of Idrija lacemaking tradition (bobbin lace) which has been passed down through families for 300 years and is on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list. The mercury mine itself (Anthony's Shaft, the oldest preserved mine entrance in Europe, 1500) offers underground tours into the former mining galleries; the town museum contains the largest collection of mercury mine artef…
Idrija's mercury mine was founded in 1490 when a tub-maker accidentally discovered cinnabar (mercury ore) in a stream. Within decades it became one of the most important mines in Europe — alongside Almadén in Spain, the two mines supplied almost all of Europe's mercury for centuries, used in gold and silver amalgamation (making New World mines viable) and in medicine. The mine's management pioneered miner welfare regulations that were ahead of their time; the miners' statute of 1580 is one of the earliest occupational health documents in European history. Lacemaking developed as a supplementa…