In 1789, Anton Ruprecht, professor of the Mining Academy in Banská Štiavnica, drew up a report on the status of opal deposits. The image of the existing mining area is still preserved in it, together with period instructions and plans. In his presence, the first experimental tunnel opened in the..Dozvedieť sa viac…
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Opal mines were visited by Prof. Dr. František Slávik, an important Czech mineralogist, to assess the condition of mines and choose the next procedure.
During the reign of Joseph II., the company Neumány and Koletsch received exclusive mining rights.
After World War I, Austria-Hungary fell apart and opal mines became part of Czechoslovakia.
In 1775, the largest opal in the world was found at the bottom of the stream in Červenica, known as Harlequin. He weighed 607 grams and was rated 700,000 Dutch guilders. Today it is deposied in the collection of the Natural History Museum in Vienna.
When Isabella Jagiellon, daughter of the Polish King Sigismund I, got married to the King of Hungary Ján Zápoľský in 1539, she was given an exceptional jewel as a gift. The impressive gold pendant was fitted with sixteen opals in the shape of tear, which undoubtedly came from the locality..Dozvedieť sa viac…
Many local legends speak of opal mining in the Slánske vrchy mountains in the times before Christ. However, based on an expert assessment of regional findings, underground mining was launched around the 11th century.
How did opal get to the city of Alexander the Great? Who inhabited the wilderness in the Slánske vrchy mountains? The successful wandering of the beautiful opal is the work of Germanic tribes and enterprising Roman merchants who never missed any opportunity to please their not less charming Egyptian queen…Dozvedieť sa viac…
Opal enchanted the Greek poet Onomakritos so much that he compared it to a child’s face in his poem. It was also intensely admired by the Roman philosopher Gaius Julius Solinus, who attributed extraordinary magical effects to the mysterious stone of sixty colours. In his book Naturalis Historia, one of..Dozvedieť sa viac…
In 2015, the mine managed to re-open and create a basic tourist circuit.