Trbovlje offers several perspectives on mining and the everyday lives of miners: from the 360-metre-high industrial chimney to the residential culture of a mining colony and a virtual mine tunnel. Kum Landscape Park adds a distinct connection to natural and cultural heritage. If you are planning a stay, you can choose between different focuses on technology, everyday history and the landscape.

Industry and Miners’ Colonies

A guided tour begins at Termoelektrarna Trbovlje with a visit to the 360-metre-high chimney, the tallest industrial chimney in Europe. The tour continues by bus to mining colonies that were built as homes for miners a hundred years ago and are still mostly inhabited today. The two perspectives bring together industrial scale and everyday life: the chimney represents the industrial facility, while the colonies show their former residential function and continued use.

A Mine Tunnel and Virtual Worlds

The virtual mining museum offers a different focus. Visitors can walk through a real mine tunnel equipped with original mining exhibits, lighting and sound effects, holograms and projections. Wearing virtual and augmented reality equipment, they immerse themselves in the world of miners 100 years ago. The lives of miners’ families and their struggle for a better future are also depicted. The museum is located in Delavski dom Trbovlje, Trg svobode 11/a, 1420 Trbovlje.

Residential Culture in the Njiva Mining Colony

The permanent exhibition “Rudarsko stanovanje” compares residential culture in Zasavje in the 1920s and 1960s. The two periods are set side by side; the exhibition therefore does not present residential culture as a single, uniform picture. Almost all the furniture and small household items in the collections are original. The exhibition is presented in an atmospheric in-situ setting in the authentic surroundings of the old Njiva mining colony (Trg svobode). This brings the comparison between periods together with the collection’s original context: you see not only individual objects, but residential culture in its surroundings. The juxtaposition draws attention to changes over several decades, making it particularly suitable if you want to consider everyday domestic life in historical comparison rather than as a snapshot of a single period.

The “Miner Prometej” structure adds a distinct touch. It is eight metres high and made of iron and coal. As a large-scale public artwork, it expresses the industrial theme in a different form from the exhibitions.

Kum Landscape Park

Kum Landscape Park adds a focus on the landscape. It covers the southern part of the municipality of Trbovlje on the right bank of the Sava and extends over 2,232 hectares. In 1996, it was designated a landscape park by an ordinance of the Municipality of Trbovlje. The park offers insights into natural and cultural heritage, bringing a different focus to the fore than the exhibitions on mining history.

For the broader travel overview: Trbovlje.