Tarnowskie Góry (German: Tarnowitz, established in 1526) is an old, picturesque town in the Silesian Highlands, near Katowice, known for historic lead-ore mining. According to legend, the source of silver ore (solely responsible for the town's existence,) was first discovered in 1490, when local peasant-farmer named Rybka found a strange, heavy, metallic stone. He presented his find to a local priest and within less than three decades this place became the largest silver mining center in the area.
Its population rivaled in size some of the major cities of the Renaissance world and prospectors were coming from all corners of the continent, all of this fueled by the massive amount and quality of ore, so high that on many occasions it was said to be practically pure, metallic silver. In the beginning of the 20th century, the source of the silver ore dried out and the mining stopped completely. The Black Trout Gallery was opened for visitors in 1957, and the Historic Silver Mine in 1976.
The site contains Museum of mining of metal-ores in the over-shaft building and tourist route, which has a lenght of 1700m and about 40m deep, including to row by boats on distance about 270m long. The lead-silver mine and its underground water management system was included on UNESCO Tentative List because is an exceptional example of a large scale mining network comprising some 50km of drainage tunnels, over 100km of access tunnels and excavated chambers and shafts extending over 38 km2.
About the stamps
The first stamp is part of the series Yuoth Literature, about which I wrote here.
The second stamp is part of the serie 220th Anniversary of Wilanow Museum, designed by Janusz Wysocki, and issued on June 21, 2005.
• Stanislaw Kostka Potocki 1781 (1.30 zl) - It's on the postcard 2403
• Puchar Nautilus, 17th century (2.00 zl)
• Kwiaciarka, porcelana, 18th century (2.20 zl)
• Zegar z Jazonem, 19th century (2.80 zl) - It's on the postcard 2242
References
Historic Silver Mine in Tarnowskie Góry - Wikipedia
Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver Mine and its Underground Water Management System - UNESCO official website
Historic Silver Mine - Official website
Sender: Krystyna Betiuk (direct swap)
Sent from Słupsk (Pomerania / Poland), on 07.01.2016
Photo:Edward Wyzgol
Mineral exploration company Wow, cool post. I'd like to write like this too - taking time and real hard work to make a great article... but I put things off too much and never seem to get started. Thanks though.
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