Mining Museum — Montecatini Val di Cecina

Mines Museum

Mon­te­ca­ti­ni Val di Ceci­na (PI)

The mine of Mon­te­ca­ti­ni Val di Ceci­na is an ancient cop­per mine locat­ed about one km from the his­tor­i­cal cen­ter. Remained active until 1907 was dur­ing the nine­teenth cen­tu­ry the largest cop­per mine in Europe. Here was born the com­pa­ny Mon­te­ca­ti­ni, one of the largest Euro­pean indus­tries, then merged into the famous Monte­di­son.
For vis­i­tors, it is an oppor­tu­ni­ty for a fas­ci­nat­ing jour­ney to learn about min­ing tech­niques and the sto­ries of the min­ers. Today the vis­i­tor can admire the nine­teenth-cen­tu­ry struc­tures relat­ed to min­ing, the for­mer Laver­ie, part of the gal­leries that can be walked, the for­mer offices of the Man­age­ment.

Dis­cov­er open­ing hours and buy tick­ets online

Dis­cov­er spe­cial events and book online

Dis­cov­er the edu­ca­tion­al activ­i­ties for schools

CONTACTS

Mine Sec­re­tari­at — Sat­ur­day and Sun­day 10 a.m. — 1 p.m. / 3 p.m. — 7 p.m.
Itin­era Sec­re­tari­at — Mon­day to Fri­day 9 a.m. — 1 p.m. / 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.

Phone
Mine Sec­re­tari­at
(+39) 0588 31026
Phone
Itin­era Sec­re­tari­at
(+39) 0586 894563
Phone

The visit itinerary

Museo delle miniere

Start­ing from the first extrac­tion well of the 30s of the nine­teenth cen­tu­ry, we will go up to its sym­bol tow­er, the Alfre­do well with its 320 meters depth and its extrac­tion sys­tem with tubs still intact.

Museo delle Miiere

After pass­ing through the old car­pen­try we then enter the fas­ci­nat­ing under­ground world and can explore a part of the main gallery also known as “bel­ly of the whale”.

Museo delle Miniere

After vis­it­ing the ex man­age­ment offices and the lab­o­ra­to­ry for chem­i­cal analy­ses, the guid­ed tour of the Min­ing Park will end out­doors in the premis­es of the ex-min­er­al wash­ing plant.

Discenderia

It is also pos­si­ble to walk along the route of the Mine Descent, the access tun­nel to the mine’s under­ground, on defined days and times: a 200 small steps route that reach­es a depth of about 100 metres.

Types of guided tours

Guided tour of the Mining Park

Open­ing hours and online tick­ets

Alfre­do Shaft, gallery and ex work­shops. Dura­tion of the guid­ed tour is approx­i­mate­ly 1 hour and 15 min­utes.
The route does not present any par­tic­u­lar dif­fi­cul­ties. Suit­able for all adults and chil­dren of at least 4 years of age. It is com­pul­so­ry to wear closed shoes and to bring some­thing to cov­er one­self when walk­ing through the gallery. There are stairs along the route. Small dogs may enter but must be held dur­ing the gallery tour.

Guided tour of the Mining Park and Mine Descent

Open­ing hours and online tick­ets

Alfre­do Shaft, gallery, ex work­shops and mine descent. Dura­tion of guid­ed tour is approx­i­mate­ly two hours.
Per un mas­si­mo di 8 per­sone.
In addi­tion to vis­it­ing the Min­ing Park the itin­er­ary includes a descent via, a stair­case to a depth of about 100 metres (mine descent). The route is not acces­si­ble to per­sons with reduced mobil­i­ty or those unable to move inde­pen­dent­ly; it is only acces­si­ble to chil­dren aged 12 and over if accom­pa­nied by at least one adult. It is manda­to­ry to wear trekking shoes and to bring some­thing to cov­er one­self for walk­ing through the gallery. Ani­mals are not allowed.

Guided tour of the Mining Park, Wind Farm, Muraglione Dam and Oratory of Santa Barbara

Con­tact us

Dura­tion of the guid­ed tour about three and a half hours.

Itin­er­ary of his­tor­i­cal-nat­u­ral­is­tic inter­est. Dur­ing the route it will be pos­si­ble to observe both the first pub­lic-owned wind farm placed on the hills over­look­ing the mine at an alti­tude of about 600 meters and the Muraglione dam, a com­plex for damming the water nec­es­sary for wash­ing the extract­ed min­er­al, reopened to the pub­lic since April 2023 and set in a beau­ti­ful nat­ur­al habi­tat. The itin­er­ary also includes a vis­it to the Ora­to­ry of San­ta Bar­bara, of which the ear­li­est records date back to 1660 ded­i­cat­ed to the cult of the Madona of Capor­ciano. Rebuilt in 1789, in 1842 the ora­to­ry was ded­i­cat­ed to the patron saint of min­ers, San­ta Bar­bara. Inside is the paint­ing of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a valu­able work by Mex­i­can painter Juan Rodríguez Xuárez.
Guid­ed tour by reser­va­tion only for groups of min­i­mum 20 par­tic­i­pants.
Con­tact the muse­um. Cost Adults € 15.00 — Chil­dren 6 to 12 years old € 10.00

4,6/5
★★★★★

Write a review

  • Beau­ti­ful. Very good guide.

    Elisabetta Russotto

    Local Guide — Google Maps

  • Beau­ti­ful vis­it for adults and chil­dren. It lasts about an hour most­ly out­doors and for a short dis­tance in the tun­nel. Our guide Mar­i­an­gela was com­pe­tent on the mine and on the ter­ri­to­ry and also very nice. Rec­om­mend­ed.

    Daniela

    Local Guide — Google Maps

  • Beau­ti­ful expe­ri­ence. The mine is a glimpse of the past that is real­ly worth see­ing. The staff are very friend­ly and show a great pas­sion for what they do. Exter­nal vis­it but above all vis­it also inside the mine exca­va­tions. Very nice.

    Roberto Pagani

    Local Guide — Google Maps

  • Sun­day morn­ing spent in excel­lent com­pa­ny immersed in his­to­ry between the ear­ly nine­teenth and ear­ly twen­ti­eth cen­turies: pre­pared guide, you would stay hours lis­ten­ing to her. Sub­lime land­scape, to go back absolute­ly.

    Giulia Romano

    Local Guide — Google Maps

  • Beau­ti­ful place and won­der­ful land­scape.

    Andrea Andrei

    Local Guide — Google Maps

  • Here we under­stand that human inge­nu­ity has no lim­its if it wants to. The guide is very pre­pared. Cer­tain­ly inter­est­ing for chil­dren too.

    Marina Giacometti

    Local Guide — Google Maps

  • I rec­om­mend you to go and see the muse­um and the mine, two hours in the com­pa­ny of the guide Andrea explains very well.

    Angela Colini

    Local Guide — Google Maps

  • A sug­ges­tive place nes­tled in the hills of the upper Ceci­na val­ley. The gal­leries and the dis­trict are well pre­served and main­tained. Per­fect for chil­dren and fam­i­lies.

    Tommaso Tani

    Local Guide — Google Maps

  • Def­i­nite­ly a place to vis­it. Rich in his­to­ry and well explained by knowl­edge­able staff.

    Sara Barbieri

    Local Guide — Google Maps

  • We spent a very inter­est­ing day, the guide was very very pre­pared and explained every­thing to us. We will be back next year.

    Mary

    Local Guide — Google Maps

  • A jour­ney through time to dis­cov­er hard work accom­pa­nied by a trained and engag­ing guide. High­ly rec­om­mend­ed for adults and chil­dren.

    Loris Ramponi

    Local Guide — Google Maps

  • Must see, high­ly rec­om­mend! A unique expe­ri­ence. Excur­sion suit­able for adults and chil­dren.

    Michele Welcome

    Local Guide — Google Maps

  • Very inter­est­ing place and pre­pared and engag­ing guide. Will­ing to move a book­ing to the last.

    Letizia Giannone

    Local Guide — Google Maps