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Photo: Stowarzyszenie Miłośników Ziemi Tarnogórskiej, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
This mined galena - lead sulphide - with a byproduct of silver. As they plumbed deeper they hit the usual problem of flooding - horse-drawn pumps just couldn't keep up. In 1784 they found silver-rich seams, which steam-powered pumps let them exploit, and later a series of adits were drilled - sideways passages into the workings so the water drained naturally. The mine closed in 1913 when the best seams were exhausted. You descend the lift with a guide and tour through the tunnels (1,700 m in all, 270 m by boat) to emerge through another shaft. The temperature underground is 10°C, and the lowest tunnel height is 103 cm. Tours take 1 hr 45 min, must be pre-booked and are occasionally available in English. There is an audio guide downloadable as an app. Outside, there is a narrow-gauge railway like those that used to criss-cross Silesia, and a collection of small locomotives. The mine and adits are listed as a .
The Historic Silver Mine is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Tarnowskie Góry, Silesia, Poland. The mine and the neighbouring Black Trout Adit are remnants of a silver mining industry. The museum is an Anchor point on the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It also joined The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage and the Silesian Tourist Organization.
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Sztolnia Czarnego Pstrąga
A 600 m-section of one of the drainage adits, reached by a shaft then toured by boat. It got its name when trout colonised it from the river it drains into. A few bats can also sometimes be seen. Tours take up to 1 hour. Booking online is advised. Tours are mostly in Polish but English and German language tours are available on certain days. Alternatively you can attend a Polish language tour by downloading the audio guide, available in six languages. Visitors must be at least 4 years old, and able to climb the 30 m-staircase to leave the tunnel. The temperature underground is 10°C. The tour begins at the Sylvester shaft, about 10 minutes walk from the nearest car park. The Silver Mine tour also includes a short boat trip, so if time is short, it is better to visit the Silver Mine.