Michael Coalmine

If you are going to Ostrava and are interested in the industrial history of this city, you should not miss a tour of the former Michal Coalmine in Ostrava-Michálkovice. The raw spaces look as if the miners had never left them, as if they were just underground, cutting coal.

You can see, for example, the chain dressing room, where miners used to hang their civilian clothes on a hanger and use a system of chains to take them up to the ceiling of the room. Another area is the snack kiosk or the so-called “lamp room”, where miners were handed out lanterns.

The Michal Coalmine was excavated in the mid-nineteenth century and was an example of sophisticated technology. Machines had to handle not only the transport of the mined coal and the lowering of miners into the depths, but also, for example, the supply of air to the workplaces or the pumping of groundwater. As development progressed, the original steam engines were replaced by electric ones.

In addition to tours for tourists, it is also a venue for exhibitions and cultural events. Those interested in the history of mining in the Ostrava region can also visit the mining museum in Landek Park or the Hlubina Mine.