OLD MINES AND INDUSTRIAL TOURISM: THE CASE OF AN ANCIENT MINING GALLERY IN LAVRION, GREECE

19th WORLD CONFERENCE OF THE ASSOCIATED RESEARCH CENTRES FOR THE URBAN UNDERGROUND SPACE, Belgrade, Serbia, November 4-7, 2025. (Paper No: 1.18.177,  pp. 191-200)

 

AUTOR(I) / AUTHOR(S): Dimitris Kaliampakos, Athanassios Mavrikos, Dimitris Lamprakis

 

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DOI:  10.46793/ACUUS2025.1.18.177

SAŽETAK / ABSTRACT:

The mining sector is one of the most important economic sectors in the world. Metals, fossil fuel and industrial minerals are essential to every country’s economy supporting its growth and development. However, when mines close due to mineral resources exhaustion, environmental concerns, economic or political reasons the impact on the local economies and communities is very hard.  Reusing old mine sites and turning them into tourist attractions can help revitalize these communities and boost their economies. Mining tourism is part of industrial tourism, a trend that has been growing significantly in the last three or four decades. Old mines are recognized as having significant potential for industrial tourism as they offer visitors a chance to see and get to know mining tools, equipment and technologies, minerals and rocks, etc. This has resulted in former mine sites being used as museums/educational centers (Britannia Mine Museum, British Columbia), visitor attractions (e.g. Wieliczka Salt Mine, Poland), recreational areas (Zip World, Wales) and even underground theme parks (Salina Turda, Romania). The paper describes the undergoing project of restoring and repurposing of an ancient mining gallery in Lavrion, Greece. The underground mining gallery has evidence of mining activities that span over more than 5,000 years as it was used both by ancient Greeks and contemporary miners in the 19th century to mine the silver ores in the area. The mining gallery will attract visitors and will provide both informative and educational material and activities related to the mining methods, the geology and history of the area.

KLJUČNE REČI / KEYWORDS:

closed mines, mining tourism, ancient mine gallery restoration

PROJEKAT / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

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