Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine

** Important public transport info at the end of this review **

The Tarnowskie mines (Góry means mines) are labelled as ‘Lead-Silver-Zinc’ – but what they actually produced was Galena, a lead ore that is one of the earliest minerals used by humans (as it is very easy to smelt) and has been mined and processed since ancient times including in pre-Columbian North America. The Romans already used it for their indoor plumbing. Galena can contain tiny grains of silver (0.2 – 1.2% in the case of Tarnowskie) and sometimes is used for its silver as the silver is worth 300 times more than an equal weight of lead. This rarely was the case at Tarnowskie however – it mainly played a supporting role in delivering the lead that was needed for smelting and refining silver that was found elsewhere (Carpathians, Ore Mountains).

The focus of this WHS is on the underground mine and its hydraulic engineering, and you have to join a tour to see it. From waiting around before the tour was to start and 'studying' the information panels, I learned from an extended version of this timeline that Goethe visited the site as well (in 1790). He wouldn’t have any language issues then as the region was Prussian at the time. I had to take a tour in Polish. Make sure to learn the contents of the printouts in English they give you by heart, as it is too dark inside to read it …

July 2021 - we decided to visit family in South Poland and combine it with visiting the remaining WHS sites in Poland.after having spend half a day in Wroclaw and the Night. We drove straight to Tarnowskie Góry taking the road via Opole.
Arriving at the shaft we were lucky that a next tour would start in 15 min. Our 2 year old daughter was very excited but the unnecessary movie as well as the Long explanations in the museum were not child friendly and also for us not really necessary. Finally we got our helmets and descended  to -40m. For the rather long hike we had to rush through the corridors. Every few seconds someone hit its head or helmet at the caves ceiling to the amusement of others. We took a few photos here and there but spotted nothing really interesting. The gamechanger was the boat ride, which added a bit of a thrill to the visit. For children certainly a small adventure for Whs enthusiast rather disappointing. Back on earth we still visited the Skansen and took a fun trainride🚂. For visiting other components above ground there was just too much traffic, so we decided to sleep in nearby Chorzow and enjoy the Silesia Park to continue to krakow next morning.

I visited this WHS in Summer 2019 as a stopover between Wroclaw and Czechia. The main highlights of this industrial heritage are the Historic Silver Mine or Zabytkowa Kopalnia Srebra (photo) and the Black Trout Adit or Sztolnia Czarnego Pstrąga.

I agree with Nan's review that although the boat trip between the Ewa and Sylvester shafts is pleasant enough (if you're not claustrophobic!), there are other far more pleasant underground waterways on the WH list which possess OUV. So even if it might be a unique touristy experience, that surely doesn't mean it deserves inscription!

Silver and lead mining in the Silesia area of Tarnowskie Gory was recorded as early as the 13th century, yet the first mines on this territory were established after 1490. The 18th century was the time of the renaissance of the ore mining industry whose remnant is the network of several kilometers of underground excavations, a fragment of which were opened for tourists to visit together with gangways and drain adits as well as the lead, silver and ore mines. The underground tourist route at a depth of 40 metres is 1700 metres long, including the popular 270 metre boat ride from Sylvester shaft. Make sure to arrive early (last tour is usually at 3pm!) and if possible book ahead.

The historic silver mine and outdoor mining machinery give you a good overview of the importance of this site for the region but it really is a drop in the ocean next …

Without thinking much about it this is the WORST site in Poland at the moment, and they are trying to add ANOTHER mine to the world heritage this year! (and not just Poland but Indonesia, Germany/Czechia with the Ore Mountain Range...when are we done inscribing all the mines!) Again this is one of those that sneaked through the review process and was overruled by the state parties - basically wasting the consulting process from the start. Maybe at one point in the future they can just sit together and decide which sites they LIKE and then we don't need a lengthy expensive process for reviewing them. Having said that, when I rate a site low the review becomes more of an old cat lady rant so I will try to keep it to a minimum:

So I arrived here just after it was inscribed. I would probably not have taken the extra few hours from my Czechia trip to reach it. There was no "UNESCO" sign anywhere but that was the only word I understood from the Polish guide. I saw an English tour inside but they were a larger group and the museum wouldn't start one just for me an hour earlier when I arrived. There is actually little history about the mine you need to know. The first part of the tour just tells you about how the mines work, equipment, steam power, yes I admit for someone who doesn't visit many this can be delightful - …

Visited the Historic Silver Mine in December 2017 and I have to say it was worthwhile. If you plan to visit it, I would recommend you to make a reservation, it made our situation easier. I can confirm that the minimum number of people is 4, we were 3 but as I agreed to pay for 4 we were allowed to visit, for which I am very thankful to the personnel.

The tour start by watching a movie about history and the site in a small cinema. Later it continues in a multimedia museum with interesting details about history, tools and machinery. After that follows the visit of the site itself.

Our guide was a very good and her enthusiasm was a big part of the overall positive experience.

Our original, already ambitious, objective was to “sweep up” all 18 of our unvisited WHS (plus selected T List and some “revisits”) in Pol/Cz/Sk/Hun in 15 days - and then the 2017 WHC inscribed Tarnowskie Gory (TG)!! We added it of course, but, on what was a trip of “Mines”, I must admit it wasn’t approached with great enthusiasm. We had already visited Banska Stiavnica with a visit into the Bartolomej Pit and found that reasonably interesting, but did we really need yet another Mine?

There is very little to see above ground in this WHS but there are 2 underground “trips” for which we had only the inclination, time and money to take 1. In the end we decided NOT to do the “Black Trout Adit” boat trip and opted instead for the “Historic Silver Mine” (These are signed locally and documented in Polish as, respectively – “Stolinia Czarnego Pstraga” and “Zabytkowa Kopalnia Srebra”). Our reasoning was that the Mine visit included a boat trip as well (albeit not as long), that it sounded more interesting than just sitting in a boat being lectured to in Polish and that it would be good to compare the underground experience there with that at Banska.

We arrived at the visitor centre at opening time to discover what was possible that morning. A large party of Polish school children was milling around ready for its tour but we were not allocated to …

I visited the Historic Silver Mine and the Black Trout Adit in August 2017.

There is a private train line between Katowice and Tarnowskie Gory, which is much cheaper than the Polish National Rail.

At 9:30 I took a bus from the bus station by the TG train station, which dropped me off right in front of the Historic Silver Mine Visitor Center / museum. It opened at 10:00 and my tour started at about 10:30.

I was told that the English tour is only at 12:00 and was given a few pages of the site description in English. But soon after the tour started, I gave up on reading it up because it was difficult to read it in the darkness of the mine.

After the tour ended at about 12:00, I decided on how to get to the Black Trout Adit by looking at the bus routes and time tables at the bus stop in front of the Visitor Center and by Google Mapping the names of various bus stop names along the routes to find the nearest bus stop to the Adit.

I took a bus, which came at about 12:30, from the Visitor center at 50°25'30.4"N 18°51'01.3"E to this bus stop 50°25'07.1"N 18°49'40.5"E and walked the rest of the way to the Black Trout Adit at 50°25'38.2"N 18°48'26.1"E.

The 600 m boat ride in the underground canal at the Adit, which is to show us the Underground Water Management System, …

After a stop over in Wroclaw at a friend's I was stuck with the question, what to visit on my trip towards Cracow. Seeing Tarnowskie was on the way and scheduled for the WHC 2017 I figured, I may as well go and see it.

Frankly, what I got to see didn't really impress me at the time. I didn't even bother to write up a review, feeling this would be in vain. Yeah, yet another mine! The only unique feature I found was the boat ride they have on a canal deep in the mine which makes for a pleasant excursion. The picture is rather dark, but that's what it looks like. Still, pleasant does not indicate OUV.

Getting There

Tarnowskie can be reached by train from Wroclaw and Krakow. It is also connected via bus to Katowice. Bear in mind, though, that the mining museum is still quite a long walk away from the town center and train station. On the other hand, the town center has some historic buildings worthwhile visiting, emphasis being on some. Best transport information (as for all of Poland) are found at e-podroznik.pl.

At the museum there are regular tours that you can join, mostly in Polish, though. Check the schedule on their website.

While You Are There

You are in the Silesia and Cracow hotspots. For nearby Katowice two prospective sites are mentioned in our forum: the Cathedral of Christ the King and Nikiszowiec …

Some basic information and hints how to visit the site - possible inscription of 2017.

Whatever the final inscription will be the most impressing sites are the Historic Silver Mine (Zabytkowa Kopalnia Srebra) and Black Trout Adit (Sztolnia Czarnego Pstrąga) both located south of Tarnowskie Góry town in Silesia Voivodship (Southern Poland).

Due to working hours it is better to start visit form Historic Silver Mine (there are guided tours in English, German, Russian or Czech - at least in theory) ask at the main office. The whole trip takes around 1,5 - 2 hours. After visiting the mine you can also visit the nearby open-air museum of old mining machinery.

The trip to Black Trout Adi requires some kind of transportation as it is located around 5 km from the Mine (there is a good marked bicycle trail). There is an underground water tunnel with boat service (separate ticket is required, unfortunately there are no combined tickets). You can start your boat trip from any of two mining shafts (szyb Sylwester or szyb Ewa) - if the boats are not there you can walk in the park to the other side or wait until the boats arrive. The whole trip takes around 40 minutes including walking down and out the mine.

More info on website http://www.kopalniasrebra.pl/EN/kopalnia/zwiedzanie.htm

Depending on what finally will be inscribed there are many other places in Tarnowskie Góry connected with mining - the whole Old Town (with many old houses - some of them belonging to …