The mining village and the management palace
In the hills between Guspini and Arbus, in south western Sardinia, Montevecchio was for over a century one of the most important lead and zinc mines in Italy and in Europe. Officially opened in 1848 by the entrepreneur Giovanni Antonio Sanna, it employed up to over a thousand miners in its period of greatest activity and gave rise to a real mining village, with houses for workers and managers, a hospital, schools, a church, shops and a cinema. The mine closed in 1991, leaving a remarkable industrial heritage, now part of the Geominerario, Storico e Ambientale Park of Sardinia.
Guided tours allow you to visit the Palazzo della Direzione, the elegant nineteenth century residence of the mine management, with frescoed rooms, a chapel and the "Sala Blu", which recalls the prosperity of the mining company; the mine shafts with their towers and winding machinery, such as the Pozzo Sant'Antonio and the Pozzo Amsicora; the workshops, the forge and the mechanical laboratories, and the miners' houses. Tours also tell the hard life of the miners, the dangers of the work, the strikes and the struggles for better conditions. The village, surrounded by woods of holm oak, is also a good starting point for walks.
Tip: tours are organised by the local cooperative on set days; combine the visit with the dunes of Piscinas, on the coast a short drive away.
Where it is
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Where to stay near Guspini
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