Miniera del Temperino

The Temperino mine in the San Silvestro Archaeological Mining Park preserves an underground record of mining in the Val di Cornia, from ancient workings to the industrial era.

Why it matters

Successive generations worked the same ore-bearing hill using different methods. The mine's passages preserve evidence of that change, from narrow early workings to larger galleries cut with industrial tools and explosives.

What to notice

The mine reveals contrasts between narrow, irregular passages and taller machine-cut galleries. Tool marks and timbering show how working methods changed over time. The surrounding Temperino district also contains remains of the mining industry and its infrastructure.

Context and history

Copper, lead, silver, iron and zinc occur in the area's mineral deposits, which were worked in antiquity. Etruscan prospectors made deep, narrow shafts; medieval extraction continued under local lords. Cosimo I de' Medici later brought specialist miners to the district, though that phase ended around 1559. Industrial mining developed in the nineteenth century with deeper workings and explosives. The mines closed in the late 1970s, and the Temperino gallery was later incorporated into the archaeological mining park.