Mining Museum Příbram - Ševčinský důl

The sightseeing area A "Ševčinský důl" begins with the entrance building of the former granaries, with an exhibition called "Traditional crafts and industry in the Příbram region" and continues with a permanent exhibition "Mining and metallurgical buildings in the Příbram region on historical photographs".

Visitors can learn about the economic, social and cultural development from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, influenced by the dominant mining and metallurgical work on the one hand, and traditional crafts (wax-making, carving, crib-making, ring-making, etc.) and small-scale industry (production of pilgrim goods, etc.) on the other. The traditional economic activities mentioned above were directly related to the existence of the nearby Church of the Holy Mountain. This architectural jewel of the Czech Baroque is one of the leading pilgrimage sites in Europe and is dedicated to the Marian cult, as evidenced by a number of exhibits in the museum's entrance exhibition.

In the building of the so-called mining cachovny from 1880 there is an exhibition "From the history of mining in Příbram", depicting local mining and metallurgical activities from prehistoric times until the end of mining operations at the end of the 20th century. It documents almost a thousand years of exploitation of the historical silver ore district and the mining of the uranium deposit after 1948. The most valuable exhibits include prehistoric evidence of the beginnings of the Montagnard activity, bronze objects from the time of the Celtic civilisation, the oldest document confirming the existence of Příbram from 1216 and the first written document about the local smelter and mines from 1311. All this is complemented by examples of medieval and modern mining tools, mining uniforms, etc. There is also information about the famous mining apprenticeship from 1849, later the Mining Academy and the Mining College.

Also noteworthy are the materials on the largest mining disaster in the world up to that time in 1892 at the Maria shaft. The facts concerning the existence of the Příbram Ore Mines and the Příbram Uranium Mines have not been left out . Visitors can see exhibits on mining, measuring and rescue technology as well as samples of silver, lead and uranium ore. In this exhibition, the museum also recalls an infamous part of the history of uranium mining, connected with the illegal deployment of political prisoners in the uranium mines after the February 1948 coup.

This exhibition is thematically linked to three other permanent exhibitions entitled "Development of vertical mining transport in the Příbram region", "Drilling technology of the Příbram mines" and"Panorama of the Březohorské ore district, installed in the attractive authentic environment of the Ševčinská shaft, where the visitor can also see the mouth of the pit with the mining cage. The shaft tower itself, built in 1879 in the style of 19th century industrial architecture (Malakov), has been nominated to the UNESCO list of technical monuments due to its historical and architectural value . Visitors to this building are also offered a unique view of the surrounding area from the 27-metre high gallery of the Shevchin Tower.

In the engine room of the Ševčina Mine there is an exhibition entitled "The international importance of the Březové Hory orefield and life in the Březové Hory in the 19th century". The exhibition presents the most famous period of local mining, when a number of international firsts were achieved in the Příbramsko region, such as the use of steam mining machines, climbing equipment and wire ropes for the first time in the ore fields of Europe, the first time in the world to reach a depth of 1 km and the extraction of more than 90% of silver and lead reserves within the Habsburg Monarchy, and others. The exhibition offers a number of period documents, technical plans and physical objects on the subject, such as a monumental mining compressor of domestic manufacture from 1928, parts of a climbing machine, examples of drilling technology or the torso of the oldest mining wagon.

A valuable exhibit located in the engine room of the Ševčinský mine is a firefighting syringe of the Příbram Mining Directorate from 1885, manufactured by the company F. Smekal, Prague - Smíchov. It was donated to the Mining Museum Příbram in 2006 by Zdeněk Tůma and Václav Máša from Dobříš.

In the former administrative building of the Ševčinská shaft from 1885, the museum prepared thematically structured exhibition units with valuable mineralogical and geological samples from the silver-ore district of Březohorie, uranium deposits and the Podbrdské iron mining area, dominated by a collection of silver minerals.

They are dominated by the largest mined piece of silver exhibited in Czech museums, weighing 11 kg and measuring 35 x 20 x 15 cm, which came from shaft No. 21, which the museum acquired in 2014 thanks to a contribution from the founder, the Central Bohemian Region. The mineralogical specimens are accompanied by examples of old mining tools, tallow and oil lamps, miners' sticks called swancars, and home-made models of shafts - the so-called shtufnverk. Visitors can also see a long-term thematic exhibition on the palaeontology of Příbramsko.

An unusual exhibition project was created at the Ševčinská shaft tailings dump. Mining equipment used in the Příbram Ore and Uranium Mines in the second half of the 20th century was installed on more than 180 m of tracks. There are also replicas of the historical mining chimney, a bell tower and a bell tower. The construction of the museum of mining technology would not have been possible without the help of the former s.p. Rudné doly Příbram, now s.p. DIAMO.

From the courtyard of the Ševčinský Mine, a miner's train runs along a 230 m long route towards the Vojtěch Mine. This unique technical attraction for children and adults is a partial reconstruction of the historical railway that existed here in 1884 and was used to transport silver and lead ore from the Ševčinský Mine to the Vojtěch processing plant. The train ride, apart from the unusual experience of the mode of transport itself, when passengers are transported to a period more than a hundred years ago, also allows unusual views of the beautiful panorama of the Brda Mountains.

Visitors can visit the original mining cottage from the 18th century as part of Sightseeing Area A. The black kitchen and the entrance hall are furnished in the spirit of a typical mining family at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In the two adjoining chambers there are occasional exhibitions related to the life of mining families, an exhibition of painted furniture, supplemented by drawings and watercolours depicting the original buildings in Březové Hory and the surrounding villages of Podbrdské Hory at the beginning of the 20th century. The most famous native of the miner's cottage was RNDr. Zdeněk Pilous, botanist, nature conservationist and co-founder of the Krkonoše National Park. The building No. 105 is located in Havířská Street, about 300 m from the Ševčinský Mine.

Another possibility within the Sightseeing Area A is a visit to the underground of the Drkolnov Mine (formerly August), which was closed in 1836. This technical monument of international significance is a huge water wheel with a diameter of 12.4 metres, which was an integral part of the complex of waterworks (water tanks, drains, drainage, intake and waste galleries, water wheel chambers, water wheels themselves). The Drkolnov water wheel was put into operation around 1850 and pumped water from underground by means of ingenious water traction (before the establishment of the steam engine) until 1899. In the 1890s the original wooden wheel was replaced by an iron one. Then, until 1961, it was used to pump drinking water for the town of Příbram. Between 2000 and 2003, the water wheel was secured, reconstructed and preserved, and the local underground spaces were adapted for tourist purposes. The tour also includes a unique attraction for both children and adults - a ride through the 51 m long slipway into the underground mine (depending on weather conditions).