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This fence panel was made using willow and hazel. The hazel was split down its length using a billhook.
Split is one of Croatia's bigger cities and has an interesting old town. We were able to see the majority of the sights in three quarters of a day's relaxed exploration and spent the remaining quarter drinking excellent Croatian coffee and beer.
The São Domingos Mine is a deserted open-pit pyrite mine in São Domingos, Alentejo, Portugal.
This site is one of the surfacing massive sulphide deposits in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, that extends from the south of Portugal into Spain.
The Romans mined in the São Domingos area for gold and silver for about 400 years. Mining stopped here when the Romans left.
In 1854 Nicolau Biava, an Italian miner from Piedmont, staked a claim to the mine; ownership then passing to a French syndicate.
In 1855 mining was resumed, as the international demand for copper grew during the Industrial Revolution.
In 1859 the mining concession was leased for 50 years to an English mining company, Mason and Barry, because of their industrial mining expertise.
The nearby port of Pomarão was inaugurated the same year. Known as Pomaron in England, this inland port was specially constructed on the River Guadiana, which here forms the border with Spain, to serve the mine.
In 1862 an 11 mile (17½ km) railway, of three foot-six inch gauge, was opened connecting the mine to Pomarão. From Pomarão ore was exported, mostly to England, by ship. Pomarão was destroyed in a disastrous flood, December 6-8, 1876, and subsequently rebuilt.
Mason and Barry switched from tunnel mining to open pit mining in 1867. Copper ore was the main product of the mine; in addition, pyrite was mined as a source of sulphur.
About 25 megatons of ore had been extracted when the mine was closed in 1966.
Since closure the mine attracts tourists. Many old mine buildings and the open-cast pit remain. The old mining company headquarters has been converted into a hotel.
Split is the second largest city in Croatia. About 211.000 people lived there in 2012. The city is the biggest and most important one in Dalmatia. It is often called capital of Dalmatia. About 400.000 people live in the metropolitan region. Split is located at the Adriatic Sea. Its port ofters year-round connections to most islands of Dalmatia. There is an important shipyard in Split. Other sources of income are tourism, fishery, paper mills, cement works and some chemical industry.