Inaugurated in 1998 and set in the Mine Park named to the eng. Andrea Bonicelli, the museum is located in the ”Gaffione” tunnel, a 2 km underground path, half practicable by train and half walkable. To visit the Mine Museum visitors need to get into the bowels of the mountain accompanied by experienced guides, who will explain the mine typology, the mineral (mostly bloodstone and siderite) excavation and transportation methods, and the raw material processing. The excavation process was made with old methods and tools: a “vein” was found after digging a “sterile” tunnel and from that point the mineral started to be “worked”. In the excavation tunnel it is still possible to see the “chimneys”, built to follow the “vein” and the “swallow holes'” where the iron material was carried to the exit. In past times the selected materials were carried with small baskets by 12-13 years old children, named “purtì”, engaged in this role for their small height. Only later, wagons were used to carry the materials, which were left outside the mine and then collected on proper sleds by the '”strusì”, which brought them downriver. The guided tours are aimed at keeping the memories of that hard work alive.
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