Uros P.hotography
Idrija- Gewerkenegg Castle
Idrija is a small town and municipality in the Goriška region of Slovenia. It is known for its mercury mine (currently in the process of closure) and lace.
According to legend, a bucket maker working in a local spring spotted a small amount of liquid mercury over 500 years ago. Idrija is one of the few places in the world where mercury occurs in both its elemental liquid state and as cinnabar (mercury sulfide) ore. The subterranean shaft mine entrance known as Anthony's Shaft (Antonijev rov) is used today for tours of the upper levels, complete with life-sized vignettes of workers over the ages. The lower levels, which reach to almost 400 meters below the surface and are no longer being actively mined, are currently being remediated.
The ghost town of New Idria, California, a site of mercury mining during the 19th-century California Gold Rush, was named after Idrija.
Castle Gewerkenegg dominates the old core of Idrija. It was erected at the beginning of the 16th century to serve as the administrative headquarters and warehouse of the Idrija mine, then the second largest mercury mine in the world.
The now beautifully restored Renaissance complex experienced a Baroque renovation in the middle of the 18th century when the inner arcaded courtyard was created and painted with attractive decorative frescoes. The castle now houses the Idrija Museum, whose central exhibit-Five Centuries of Mercury Mining and the Town of Idrija-offers a survey of the half-millennium history of the oldest mining town in Slovenia. It also offers an exhibit of Idrija lace and a replica of a room in an Idrija miner's home.
Idrija- Gewerkenegg Castle
Idrija is a small town and municipality in the Goriška region of Slovenia. It is known for its mercury mine (currently in the process of closure) and lace.
According to legend, a bucket maker working in a local spring spotted a small amount of liquid mercury over 500 years ago. Idrija is one of the few places in the world where mercury occurs in both its elemental liquid state and as cinnabar (mercury sulfide) ore. The subterranean shaft mine entrance known as Anthony's Shaft (Antonijev rov) is used today for tours of the upper levels, complete with life-sized vignettes of workers over the ages. The lower levels, which reach to almost 400 meters below the surface and are no longer being actively mined, are currently being remediated.
The ghost town of New Idria, California, a site of mercury mining during the 19th-century California Gold Rush, was named after Idrija.
Castle Gewerkenegg dominates the old core of Idrija. It was erected at the beginning of the 16th century to serve as the administrative headquarters and warehouse of the Idrija mine, then the second largest mercury mine in the world.
The now beautifully restored Renaissance complex experienced a Baroque renovation in the middle of the 18th century when the inner arcaded courtyard was created and painted with attractive decorative frescoes. The castle now houses the Idrija Museum, whose central exhibit-Five Centuries of Mercury Mining and the Town of Idrija-offers a survey of the half-millennium history of the oldest mining town in Slovenia. It also offers an exhibit of Idrija lace and a replica of a room in an Idrija miner's home.