Kaolin Mine Nevřeň
The kaolin mine in Nevřeň undoubtedly belongs among the most fascinating industrial sights of the Pilsen region. Tours of the mine guide you through underground passageways and introduce you to the local history and former mining methods. Then you can visit the nearby Kaolin Centre (Centrum Caolinum Nevřeň), where you can discover an exposition dedicated to the unique underground mining of kaolinite and its supplementary processing. The mine was opened to visitors via the Industry Open 2019 festival and is now regularly open for tours.
Saturdays and Sundays
9:00–17:00
Closed from October to March
For more infromation, please contact Centrum Caolinum Nevřeň (rezervace@centrumcaolinum.cz, +420 723 469 874)
Adults CZK 170
Children CZK 100
Students and Seniors CZK 120
No public transportation connections. Nevřeň is located approx. 15 km from Pilsen.
Even today you can admire the work completed by the hands of the miners in Nevřeň’s kaolin mine. This mine was used for extracting kaolin during the 19th century, and its original passageways have survived to today. Some of them stand as much as 12 metres high and 8 metres wide. There are visible marks of manual work as well as black stains on the ceiling, which were most likely left by carbide lamp smoke. A mining seal from the year 1891 is still visible on the ceiling of one of the corridors.
Tours
Tours begin at the entrance of the mine, where your guide will be waiting for you. A pleasant 20 to 30-minute walk will take you from the Kaolinite Centre to the entrance. Even though it might be summer, it’s a good idea to come prepared with warm clothing as the temperature in the mine tends to hang around 10 °C. We also recommend wearing a comfortable pair of shoes. The tour takes approximately two hours, and is suitable for children ages 4 and older. You can reach the village of Nevřeň from Pilsen by car or by bus. The trip should only take about 20 minutes.
The Magic Quill
You might be familiar with the Nevřeň kaolin mine from the beloved Czech film The Magic Quill. It’s here that the scenes featuring hell and Lucifer’s Hall were filmed. You can visit these very rooms and maybe even find a few items from the film that were left behind by the filmmakers.
The history of kaolin mining in Nevřeň
Information is lacking when it comes to the extraction of kaolin in the Nevřeň mine. Mining began at the deposit in 1870 by the entrepreneur Schüss. It’s likely that the original mining efforts were done manually, and apart from kaolin, sand was also extracted here in the early days.
After it was discovered that kaolin was located deeper under the ground, further mining efforts were made to extract it, which led to the mine being mechanized in 1884. A wide transport tunnel was built as well as a narrow railway, which was used to transport the rock to the train stations inKozolupy and Třemošná. Each day’s work resulted in 2-3 full railway carriages.
Kaolin mining in Nevřeň was concluded in 1897, most likely due to the bad road conditions and the far distance from the mine to the train stations. All the mining equipment has since been moved to the nearby village of Ledce.
View the photo gallery
