Museo della Miniera Trabia Tallarita

Useful Information

Location:	SS626, Strada statale delle Solfare, 93016 Riesi CL. (37.29917, 14.03559)
Open:	All year Mon-Sat 9-13, 15:30-19, 1st Sun 9-13, 15:30-19. [2024]
Fee:	Adults EUR 4, Reduced EUR 2. [2024]
Classification:	Sulfur Mine Replica Underground Mine Mining Museum
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:	V=2,250/a [2022]
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Lucia Pierro, Marco Scarpinato (2010): Il museo della miniera Trabia Tallarita: Rivivono le solfare dell'altopiano gessoso siciliano Il Giornale dell'Architettura, aprile 2010. Laura Nobile (11 March 2010). Un viaggio nella Sicilia delle solfare: è nato il Museo di Trabia-Tallarita Repubblica.it. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
Address:	Museo della Miniera Trabia Tallarita, Contrada Palladio 2, 93016 Riesi, Tel: +39-0933-912626, Cell: +39-393-7575107. Soprintendenza BB.CC.AA., Via Crispi, 25, 93100, Caltanissetta, Tel: +39-0934-554968, Fax: +39-0934-554967. E-mail:
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

1730	Solfara Grande opened.
1823	Tallarita mine opened by the Solfara Grande.
1837-1857	introduction of steam pumps.
1875	cast iron wagons for transport within the mines and new excavation systems introduced.
1879	dual function wells extraction and eduction of water introduced.
1881	construction of the Campobello-Licata railway section for the transport of material.
1889-1894	first mechanical extraction system with electric motor.
1897	steam system replaced by an electrical system.
1900	10 km long cableway activated between the Trabia-Tallarita sulfur complex and the Campobello di Licata station.
1905	fire prevention system installed.
1909	Palladio Power Plant with two dynamos with a power of 130 KW opened to provide for the entire mining basin.
1913	new ventilation system.
1920s	installation of three new generators with a power of 300 HP at the power plant.
1928	Gill furnaces installed.
1931	electric ventilation system installed.
1933	mechanical drills introduced.
1951-1955	new wells equipped with hoists for the elevator.
1957	gas explosion and collapse of the Scordia shaft with many human casualties.
1975	mine closed.
2000 to 2003	area of the former mine acquired as public property.
08-MAR-2010	Trabia Tallarita Sulfur Mines Museum inaugurated.

Geology

The sulfur deposits are located at the border of the provinces of Caltanissetta, Enna and Agrigento. This area is called the chalky-sulfur plateau.

Description

Museo della Miniera Trabia Tallarita (Trabia Tallarita Mine Museum) is also known as Museo delle solfare di Trabia Tallarita (Trabia Tallarita Sulphur Museum). It is a museum about sulfur mining in Sicily, with special emphasis on the nearby Trabia Tallarita mine. The main exhibition is located in the building of the former power plant of this mine, the diesel generators are part of the exhibition. The museum has machines, tools and equipment of the miners, and of course a huge collection of sulfur minerals. Photographs, documents, and themed installations tell the stories of the miners. The discenderia (descent) is a sort of mine replica, a cage, a mine elevator, simulates the descent through the shaft into the mine quite impressive. The mine pavilion contains a multimedia space where the underground situation is recreated with numerous movies. And there is a scientific exhibition with a laboratory. The rooms of the mine forge, where the tools were created and maintained, are used for the education of school pupils.

The Trabia-Tallarita complex is located between the municipalities of Riesi and Sommatino. In the 1920s it produced 12 % of the worldwide production of sulfur. 3,000 miners were employed at the mine who had their own miner village with a carabinieri station, a chapel, post office and food shops. It provided housing for all employees and their families. The heyday ended in the 1950s with the strong American competition. Nevertheless, the mine was operated until 1975.

Sulfur was one of Sicily's most important mineral resources, but all sulfur mines are closed now. It seems the sulfur mining started already in Greek times, the oldest mining were dated to 200 BC. The Romans used sulfur for medical purposes, but also to mix it with inflammable substance as weapons.

In 1904 a 10-kilometer cable car line was built to transport ore from the Trabia-Tallarita mine to the Campobello di Licata station,