MUSEUM OF MINES AND MINERALS TREPČA (MUZEU I KRISTALEVE DHE MINERALEVE TË TREPÇËS - MUZEJ KRISTALA I MINERALA TREPČA)

This national museum, created in 1964, is the Mecca of mineral collectors from all over the world. Very rare specimens of cosalite, vivianite, ludlamite, jamesonite, pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite and dolomite are exposed here. In all, 1,800 pieces of crystallized material with poetic shapes and textures, all of which have the particularity of coming from the same site: the mine at Trepča Exploited first for its gold, then for its lead and zinc since at least the 14th century, it has gradually revealed its other riches, since it is now estimated to constitute a phenomenal reserve of 60 million tons of minerals. Quantity is one thing, but what specialists appreciate is that Trepča has an almost unparalleled variety, except for what can be found in the Dalnegorsk mine near Vladivostok in Far Eastern Russia. The Trepča museum is therefore a must in the genre. Even if we are not passionate about these strange stones that seem to have come from the planet Krypton, we can spend a pleasant moment contemplating the windows... which are not accompanied by explanations in English anyway. Note, however, that the museum is not chauvinistic, since it includes about 100 specimens from Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Brazil. Part of the exhibition also presents the history of the mine and how it is operated. Using an old model, the eleven levels of galleries are described, which sink almost 200 m below the ground, totalling 200 km of corridors. Outside the museum, you can also see the elevator that descends the miners into the bowels of this mineral cathedral every day.