Mina de Ciência – Centro Ciência Viva do Lousal

For much of the twentieth century the Sétubal district on south-west coast of Portugal was an important source of sulphur. Pyrites from which sulphur is obtained was worked at Lousal between 1906 and 1988. The project to conserve some of the workings as part of a museum dates from 1996 when proposals were made by the Frédéric Velge Foundation as part of a programme to revitalise the local economy after the closure of mines and other industries. The project was supported by the Portuguese Association for Industrial Archaeology, and the centre was opened in its present form in 2010. The indoor part of the museum is located in the power station of 1934 that supplied the pyrites mines. Visitors can see other surface buildings including the geological laboratory, the oil storage room, the lamp room, the time office, the pithead baths and the workshop for maintaining equipment. There are displays about mining history, mining technology, geology and the story of the last family to work the mine. Guided parties of visitors are also able to venture into a mining gallery 0.7 km long. The mining village of Lousal is well-preserved and worth exploring.