Alexander Mine Black Coal Mine

The Alexander Mine is a unique example of Ostrava's industrial architecture, with its metal headframe with decorative elements reminiscent of industrial Baroque. This stands in contrast with its brick chimney.

When viewed from Ostrava’s city centre, the Lysá hora Mountain stands behind the headframe, a view that connects this industrial city with the wilderness of the Beskydy Mountains.

The Alexander Mine was part of the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway and bears the name of the former president of the company, Alexander Palavicini. Workers excavated coal from depths of over one kilometre below ground. Mining began in the late nineteenth century, and at the time, the mine was at the cutting edge technology and human ingenuity. Evidence of this is also found in the furnishing of the engine rooms, boiler rooms, and head-frames.

Mining operations at the Alexander Mine closed in the 1990s and today, the complex is a cultural monument. A former mining colony, home to the coalminers, surrounds the mine. The Ostrava zoological gardens were constructed in the adjacent park during the 1950s but have since been relocated to their current complex.

Contact

OSTRAVAINFO!!! - pobočka Věž
Prokešovo náměstí 1803/8
702 00 Ostrava
E-mail: vez@ostravainfo.cz
Web: https://www.ostravainfo.cz
Tel.: +420 599 443 096