Mine-image site minier souterrain

The Mine Image is an underground museum set in a former anthracite mine at La Motte-d'Aveillans, in the Isère, near La Mure, on the Matheysine plateau. The site, with several hundred metres of authentic galleries and about 1,000 m² of exhibition, recalls more than two centuries of mining.

The visit is guided. It shows the lamp room, the room of the "hanged" (the miners' changing room), the miner's gestures and tools, as well as the social life of the "gueules noires" (coal miners) and their families, sometimes through testimonies of former miners. A room also presents fine minerals, and a video explains the geological formation of anthracite.

The La Motte-d'Aveillans anthracite mine, opened in the nineteenth century, ceased industrial activity in the twentieth century; the site was subsequently enhanced by the local heritage preservation association. The station is linked to the La Mure little train, with which combined visits are possible.

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