Spoluka Mining Museum

The Spoluka mine in the town of Madan in the Rhodope mountains produced a wide range of economic minerals: lead, zinc, gold, silver, copper and cadmium. It was operated by the Bulgarian-Soviet company Gorubso, founded in 1950. By the 1980s, the company employed 14,000 people at several mines in the area. Mining began in ancient times but expanded with capital investment from the 1920s. The Spoluka mine was worked out by around 1972 and opened as a museum in 2023. Visitors walk along a tunnel with the date 1961 above the entrance for around 140m to see railway tracks and waggons, safety equipment and pneumatic systems. A vertical shaft, ventilation chimney and mine yard are also preserved. On the surface are displays with models, historical equipment and images. Around 100m away at ул. Явор 3 is the Crystal Hall, opened in 1984, which presents a large collection of minerals from the region’s mines.