Mineralogical Museum of Lavrion

The lead and silver mines of Lavrion, on the Greek mainland south of Athens, were important in classical antiquity and in more recent centuries, and were worked in the 19th century by a Greek and a French company. The mineralagical museum established by the Lavrion Studies Society (EMEL) in 1986 commemorates the work of the geologist and mining engineer A. Kordellas (1863-1909). The museum, in a building of 1873 built by the Greek company, that was part of an ore-washing complex, displays 115 different metals, along with evidence of industrial processes, mining tools, lamps, lead ingots and slag specimens. Housing built by both the companies remains, as does a long flue from the smelter that was used in the 20th century.