Idrija Municipal Museum

Abstract

The central museum exhibition presents the development of the town of Idrija and the once second largest mercury mine in the world, equipped with the latest technology. The geological collection with nearly 3,000 different specimens is held to be the biggest exhibited collection of its kind in Slovenia. The front tower of the castle exhibits a selection of significant archival sources from all over Europe along with documents of the Idrija cartographers from the 18th and 19th centuries. Othe important sections include the Mineral Collection (including exhibitions on mercury mining) and documents relating to the activities of naturalists in Idrija, Scopoli, Hacquet and Paracelsus; and the section 'Views of the Town and Monuments of the Ancestors', a stroll through the town which had its liveliest period in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There is an exhibition on the mercury tower, which was designed like a shaft with three levels. The process of extracting mercury and cinnabar is illustrated by the massive millstone that was used for grinding cinnabar, the clay retorts for blasting ore and original mercury scales from 1830.

A small exhibition room presents famous figures from the history of the mine and town, while another exhibition features furnishing from an early 20th century Idrija miner’s house.

The last exhibition hall presents the lively social life in the Idrija of the past. The mining operation was responsible for the establishment of several very good local schools as well as craft traditions such as lace-making. Bobbin-lace making was introduced into Slovenia from the Czech and German lands of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy more than 300 years ago, and Idrija developed its own techniques and design patterns. In 1876 a Lace School was established and its activities achieved European dimensions. A part of museum is the memorial room of Dr Aleš Bebler (1907-1981), Slovene politician, diplomat, ecologist and participant in the Spanish Civil War. There is a permanent gallery collection, donated by Idrija-born translator and Rome gallery owner Valentina Orsini Mazza, which comprises 33 paintings and prints by renowned Slovene and Italian artists. Other interesting parts of the museum include the peasant frescoes painted by itinerant folk artists. The motifs are religious and combined with decorative elements and simple ornamentation.

The museum oversees the activities of various satellites, including: the Flood Dams (Klauže) in Idria, built in 1772; the Frančišek Mine, the museum`s technical department which presents old driving and mining machines; the homestead of the Writer France Bevk; Idrija Kamšt (from the German word Wasserkunst – 'water art'), the largest wooden water wheel in Europe which pumped water from the mine from the time of the French Revolution down to 1948; an Idrija Miner's House dating from the end of the 19th century which was renovated in 1990; the Wild Lake Natural Museum, located two kilometres south of Idrija; the Franja Partisan Hospital (huge floods in September 2007 demolished the monument; repairs are underway); the Cerkno Museum; and the Partisan Printing Press 'Slovenia'. The latter is one of the best preserved monuments from the Second World War. The Printing House operated from 1944 till the end of the war, and Partizanski dnevnik ('Partisan's Daily') was the only daily newspaper in occupied Europe printed by a resistance organisation.

In 1997 Idrija Municipal Museum received the Luigi Micheletti Award, as the best European museum of the industrial and technical heritage.

Idrija Municipal Museum

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