Blegny-Mine

Blegny-Mine worked coal until 1980 and is the only mine in Belgium where the original shaft and underground galleries can still be entered, which is what distinguishes it from the other Walloon mining sites: visitors go down in the cage to thirty and sixty metres, walk the galleries with the machinery in place, and are shown how the seams were worked, usually by former miners. Above ground the sorting and washing plant, the winding gear and the buildings survive, with a museum on the coal industry and on the immigration that supplied its workforce from Italy, Turkey and elsewhere. It was inscribed in 2012 with Grand-Hornu, Bois-du-Cazier and Le Grand-Hornu as the Major Mining Sites of Wallonia.

What you actually see

• A real underground descent - the cage down to thirty and sixty metres.
• Galleries with machinery in place - the working faces as they were left.
• The sorting and washing plant - the surface buildings above the shaft.
• The immigration story - the workforce brought from Italy and Turkey.

When to go

April to October for full opening; winter runs limited tours. Half a day. Tours are timed and go in groups; book in high season. It is cool underground and a jacket is provided or needed.

Honest expectations

Tours are timed and in French or Dutch unless arranged, with English by request. The descent is not suitable for anyone claustrophobic. There are steps and uneven ground underground. Winter opening is limited.

Nearby

Liege is south-west; the Herve cheese country lies east.