idrija

Idrija is a small town and municipality with the same name in Slovenia. It is known for its mercury mine (today in the process of closing) and laces. Under Austrian rule it was known as Idria. Mercury was discovered there in 1497, and mining productions were taken over by the government in 1580. According to legend, a bucket maker working in a local spring spotted a small amount of liquid mercury over 500 years ago. Idrjia is one of the few places in the world where mercury occurs in both its elemental liquid state and as cinnabar (mercury sulfide) ore. The subterranean shaft mine entrance known as Anthony's Shaft (Antonijev rov) is used today for tours of the upper levels, complete with life-sized vignettes of workers over the ages. The lower levels, which reach to almost 400 meters below the surface and are no longer being actively mined and are currently being remediated. The ghost town of New Idria, California, a site of mercury mining during the 19th-century California Gold Rush, was named after Idrija.

External links

Idrija, official page of municipality (in Slovene)

tourist information, a page in English about the town and its history.

<< Previous

Word Browser

Next >>

term (architecture)
melbourne to hobart yacht race
ronaldus shamask
duo
gold fingerprinting
gelhausen
ettan
leo navratil
robert ornstein
sextet
martin h. glynn

oswald tschirtner
ezekiel cheever
mckenzie friend
seth ward
jacob ljunglf
septet
seven hills
tre ankare
pat barker
gothiatek
litigant in person

the book of skulls
durham castle
robert trimble
swedish match
hoodoo (geology)
schizotypy
wyatt earp (card game)
linda fiorentino
thomas todd
molecular equation
metiria turei

ionic equation
the road to wellville
mount garibaldi
copenhagen business school
something wicked this way comes (album)
william arveson
waihi
tsuruga castle
brigham henry roberts
acid (disambiguation)
j. bradford delong