Mercury mining heritage

For centuries Idrija with the world's second largest mercury mine was considered to be the centre of scientific and technological progress in the region. History of mining in Idrija dates back to year 1490. By burning cinnabar ore, the mercury miners of Idrija mined over 13 per cent of the world's production. Only Almadén mercury mine in Spain is bigger and dates back to Roman times. Until the World War I the Idrija Mercury Mine was one of the best technically equipped mine in Europe. In 1995 the mine was closed down due to commercial, geological and ecological reasons. Since then the company has been under the liquidation, because it still needs to manage the consequences of 500 year mining, that is to secure the shafts and to monitor the pollution of the environment.

The Idrija Mine Museum together with the Idrija Municipal Museum takes care of the region's rich technical, geological, technological, ethnological, and cultural heritage. In 2012 the Heritage of Mercury. Almadén and Idrija project was submitted to UNESCO in order to enter Idrija on its World Heritage List.