A steam engine from 1872 is still working in this mine: It still safely lowers miners to the pit (PHOTO)

Senjski Rudnik is a village in the municipality of Despotovac in the Pomoravlje region. It is located 20 km from Despotovac and Cuprija. The mine with the same name is located there which is the oldest active coal mine in Serbia, as well as the oldest mining settlement in Serbia. There is a building of the Coal Mining Museum in Serbia with various exhibits.

Timeless church-barn in Mionica: It was relocated four times, and it served as a hospital in the First World War (PHOTO)

In the period from the construction of the railway in 1892, which connected this coal mine with central Serbia, until the beginning of the Second World War in 1941, the Senjski Rudnik was one of the most promising areas in the country. The building of the central warehouse was adapted in 1980 and has been used as a unique technical museum of coal in Serbia ever since, which presents the objects and history of the Senj mine and other Serbian coal mines and mining settlements, from the Roman period to the present day.

The coal museum was opened in 1980, and since 1983, together with the immediate environment, it has been declared a cultural monument of great importance for the Republic of Serbia. It was founded to show the mining-technical-historical development of this mine and other mines of Serbia. The Museum in the Senjski Rudnik has a very interesting and informative concept and exhibition display.

The working hours of the museum are from 09 AM to 17 PM.

The steam engine for the transport of miners to the pit is still in operation in the Senjski Rudnik, built in 1872 in Graz, in the Austro-Hungarian "Joseph Qureshi" factory. It is still safely lowering miners into the pit to this day. It was first installed in the mine Vrdnik on Fruska Gora in 1876, where it worked until 1922 when it was transferred to the Senjski Rudnik. The first industrial line of narrow track in Serbia was put into operation on the route Senjski Rudnik - Cuprija in 1892.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Senjski Rudnik became the largest and most promising brown coal mine in the country. On July 21, 1903, a major mining accident took place, when the whole shift of miners was killed. On the occasion of this accident, the locals built St. Procopius' Church in 1906, and July 21 was marked as the Miners day.  

HOW TO REACH THE MINING MUSEUM? 

The highway from Nis towards Belgrade, around 120km from Nis. You take the exit that leads to Svilajnac, Despotovac, and Resavica. Senjski Rudnik is around 20 KM away from Cuprija.

(Telegraf.co.uk / Opanak.net)