Sztolnia "Czarny Potok" w Tarnowskich Gorach

Czarnego Pstraga - Black Trout Adit

Useful Information

Location:	Park Repecki, south-west of Tarnowskie Góry, province of Katowice. Between the road to Gliwice and the road to Zbroslawice/Pyskowice. (50.428650, 18.815120)
Open:	JAN to MAY Tue-Sun 9-15. JUN to AUG Tue-Fri 9-15, Sat, Sun 9-17. SEP to DEC Tue-Sun 9-15. Foreign language tours: after appointment. Closed 01-JAN, 06-JAN, Easter Sunday, 01-NOV, 24-26-DEC, 31-DEC. [2021]
Fee:	Package with Zabytkowa Kopalnia Srebra: JUL to AUG: Adults PLN 70, Children (2-16) PLN 57, Children (0-1) free, Students (-16) PLN 57, Seniors (65+) PLN 57, Disabled PLN 57. SEP to JUN: Adults PLN 66, Children (2-16) PLN 54, Children (0-1) free, Students (-16) PLN 54, Seniors (65+) PLN 54, Disabled PLN 54. [2021]
Classification:	Adit Lead Mine Zinc Mine Silver Mine
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:	L=600 m, VR=30 m, D=60 min, MinAge=4.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Historic Silver Mine, ul. Szczęść Boże 81, 42-600 Tarnowskie Góry, Tel: +48-32-285-4996. E-mail: Stowarzyszenie Milosnikow Ziemi Tarnogorskiej (Association of Friends of the Tarnogora Area), ul Gliwicka 2, 42-600 Tarnowskich Gory, Tel: +48-32-285-4996, Tel: +48-32-285-2981.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1834	Tiefer Friedrichstollen built.
1912	end of mining.
1957	opened to the public.
2017	inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Description

The site is today called Sztolnia Czarnego Pstrąga (Black Trout Adit), formerly it was known as Czarny Potok (Black Creek). Why they renamed it is unclear, after all renaming requires a lot of infrastructure like road signs, brochures and much more to be replaced. The tunnel is an adit, a drainage tunnel, which was built under the name Tiefer Friedrichstollen in 1834, when this area was still German. They claim that this is the only still operating adit in Poland and one of Europe's longest underground boat passages. We are not convinced this is true.

The water management system was constructed in a plain and thus technically challenging. The gently undulating plateau has an elevation between 270-300 m asl, the difference between the highest and lowest points amounts to less than 50 m. Unfortunately the drainage by gravity require a sink, where the water flows to, which a small but constant slope. Most European metalliferous deposits are located in mountainous terrain, which makes this much easier. A second problem was that the underground system at Tarnowskie Góry experienced up to three times the water inflow of other major European metal mines. As a result they were forced to construct a system of drainage tunnels of more than 50 km of main drainage tunnels and 150 km of secondary drainage tunnels, access tunnels, shafts and extraction areas.

This adit has two entrances called Szyb Ewa and Szyb Sylvester. The parking lot is at Szyb Ewa, but the tours start at Szyb Sylvester which is 600 m down a forest road. Please arrive early, for the short 10-minute walk and for the art exhibition on the terrace of the Szyb Sylvester, and the huge exhibition of 20th century miners lamps in the building. A 25 m descent down a spiral staircase leads to the adit where the boats are entered. The boat trip between then returns the 600 m to Szyb Ewa underground, where the tour ends. They offer guided boat trips, meditation tours by boat, swimming in the adit, and much more. The mine is popular and thus there may be some delays on days with many visitors. If possible try to avoid weekends and the summer school holidays.