Drive time 55 to 7.5 hours depending on route
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Almadén is in the province of Ciudad Real. Almadén is approximately 300 km south of Madrid in the Sierra Morena. The name Almadén is from the Arabic word meaning "the metal". Originally a Roman (then Moorish) settlement, the town was captured in 1151 by Alfonso VII and given to the Knights of the Order of Calatrava.Almadén is home to the world's greatest reserves of cinnabar , a mineral from which mercury is extracted. Cinnabar was first used for pigment by the Romans. Later, the mineral was used mostly in medicine and alchemy during the Arab domination of Spain.
The mercury deposits of Almadén account for the largest quantity of liquid mercury metal produced in the world. Approximately 250,000 metric tons of mercury have been produced there in the past 2,000 years. Due to the human toxicity of mercury and its byproducts, the mine has variously employed penal labour, slave labour, and prisoners of war over its long history. Almaden mine stopped working in 2002, due to the prohibition of mercury mining in Europe. In 2006, the mine opened to the public, who can visit the first level, 50 meters underground. In 2012, Almaden and Idrija (Slovenian) were declared World Heritage Sites, with the nomination "Heritage of Mercury"
There is a park for visitors To have a guarantee of visiting the mine it is necessary to buy the ticket online or make a reservation in advance by calling +34 926 26 50 02 .
The Visitors' Centre,located on the ground floor of the main building, holds access control, the shop and cloakroom, restrooms, a general model of the facilities, the mine presentation room, and "El Malacate", the Mining Park's restaurant-cafeteria opens weekends and holidays with breakfast and tapas where the main feature are the gastronomical jewels of our land.
Javier Velasco's artwork "Lágrimas de lluvia", the permanent gigantic installation made up by a pond of almost 4 tons of mercury, rained upon by glass stopped in space and an ingenious system producing the rain effect, is shown in a windowed area in the Centre.
The Mercury Museum is in the old mercury warehouse in the Buitrones enclosure. The building was constructed in 1941. The main façade shows an entryway with an entry arch, with two medallions and a pediment over a cornice. Intervention in the building meant adapting a contaminated and deteriorated industrial space, turning it into a cultural space making public visiting possible. The most important museums in the entire Mining Park are in this building. On the ground floor, there are rooms for geology and palaeontology in the area, mercury sciences with interactive mercury physics and chemical experiments, the history of this metal's metallurgy, and the mercury weighing and packaging room. The purpose of the basement is to show the history of the mines and transportation from Almadén to Seville's dockyards, and from there, to America.
Mining Park Inside the Mine In the underground mine, more than 700 m deep, a space has been recuperated for public visit with maximum safety guarantee. The accessible area is the 1st floor of the Almadén mine, about 50 metres deep, with the greatest historical value. After visiting exploitation areas from the 17th, 18th centuries (branch drifts, overhead stopes, open pits and bench exploitations) and work from the 20th century, visitors reach the visit's jewel: the baritel of San Andrés, with its majestic hoist, the Sistine Chapel of mining heritage, and the prisoner gallery where the criminals were led to work in the mine from the prison. Afterward, once again through the San Teodoro well, we access an upper gallery where a mining train transports the group to the surface.
Monday closed. Open Tuesday to Sunday. From May to September: 10:00-14:00 / 16:30-19:30. From October to April: 10:00-14:00 – 15:30-18:30.
Mining
The process for extracting mercury from its ores has not changed much since Aristotle first described it over 2,300 years ago. Cinnabar ore is crushed and heated to release the mercury as a vapor. The mercury vapor is then cooled, condensed, and collected. Almost 95% of the mercury content of cinnabar ore can be recovered using this process.