The history of this former coal mine dates back to 1843, when the Austrian state began to dig two mine pits in Michálkovice near Ostrava. One of them, the so-called Michálkovice Pit. Michálkovice Pit No. 3, was then renamed after the late imperial court councillor Michael Laier to the Michal Pit. A major influence on the appearance of this extremely valuable area from the construction and technical point of view was the reconstruction completed in 1915, which was carried out according to the project of the prominent architect František Fiala.
The Michal Mine ceased its operation in 1994, now it has been declared a national cultural monument and is included in the indicative list of the Czech Republic for inscription in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage. The tour route allows visitors to walk the same route that the miners took every day when they started work – it follows the miner’s path from the changing rooms to the pit itself in its entire length. Emphasis is placed primarily on the authenticity of the environment and detail, the intention was to preserve the entire area in its original form as if the people who worked here had just left and left everything in its place. You can see the chain changing rooms, the team’s bathrooms, the guild hall, the lamp room, the pit building, the bridge for the movement of the team from the lamp room to the pit building and the engine room with the original technical equipment, which represents a unique set of electric mining machines and compressors from the period of the beginning of electrification. The premises of the main building are often used for exhibitions, theater performances and other cultural and social events.
