Idrija's mercury-mining heritage was inscribed by UNESCO in 2012 as part of the Heritage of Mercury: Almadén and Idrija listing, a genuinely shared recognition spanning Slovenia and Spain, together representing the two largest mercury mines in the world. Mercury was first discovered in Idrija in 1490, and Anthony's Shaft, the mine's oldest section, was already being dug by 1500, just a decade later. Anthony's Shaft has its own page below covering the current mine tour.
Idrija's UNESCO recognition isn't a solo listing, it's shared with Almadén in Spain, together representing the two largest mercury mines that ever operated, a genuine, documented connection worth understanding as one story told across two countries rather than a coincidental naming overlap.
Mercury was first discovered at Idrija in 1490, and Anthony's Shaft, the oldest surviving section of the mine, was already being excavated by 1500, a genuinely rapid decade-long jump from discovery to active, organized mining, worth understanding as documented history rather than a vague founding legend.
Beyond the shaft itself, the wider heritage site includes mercury stores, miners' living quarters, and even a miners' theatre, evidence of a genuine mining community that grew around the operation, not just an industrial extraction site, worth understanding as a fuller picture of Idrija's history.
Idrija sits in western Slovenia, reachable by bus or car from Ljubljana, roughly an hour and a half away.
Idrija's UNESCO story is genuinely international, a shared recognition with Almadén in Spain for the world's two largest mercury mines, and Anthony's Shaft, dug within a decade of the mineral's discovery, remains open for a genuine, current mine tour, covered in full below.
Live now
Sourced destination guides and practical travel planning content from TravelersCopilot -- checked against government, UNESCO, and official tourism-authority sources.