MICHAL MINE (DŮL MICHAL)

More than a tour, the Michal mine offers a fascinating exploration of the region's industrial destiny. Coal mining in Ostrava began in 1850, and the Michal mine soon became one of the most modern in Europe, and the first to be electrified in the early 1910s. Nationalized in 1945, it contributed to the industrial development of the region and the USSR, employing 2,500 miners. But profitability declined, and on May 30, 1993, the last car left the mine and most of the shafts were filled in. Nevertheless, the site reopened in 2000, after many years of transformation, to offer visitors an extraordinary experience. Following the daily routine of a miner on his way to work, the tour begins with the administrative offices, suspended changing rooms, shower rooms... Period furniture and equipment have been arranged to evoke their world as well as that of the geologists. The surface tour ends with the control room, evocative of a Star Trek episode from the late 1960s! In the outer buildings, you'll discover the enormous machine rooms, which were used to send electricity down the mine shafts, ventilate them and drill the first holes... Their excellent state of preservation will allow enthusiasts to immerse themselves in a little-known page of technology east of the Iron Curtain. For thrill-seekers, the site offers night-time tours (see dates on the website).