Silesian Industrial Monuments Route

LengthApprox. 470 km (290 mi)^[1]

Established21 June 2005 (by resolution of the Silesian Voivodeship Board)^[2]

Industrial Monuments Route of the Silesian Voivodeship
Length	Approx. 470 km (290 mi)^[1]
Location	Silesian Voivodeship, Poland
Established	21 June 2005 (by resolution of the Silesian Voivodeship Board)^[2]
Trailheads	Częstochowa – Żywiec^[1]
Use	Automobile tourism; cultural tourism^[3]
Maintained by	Coal Mining Museum in Zabrze (operator; the Silesian Voivodeship is the route administrator)^[2]
Website	www.zabytkitechniki.pl

Silesian Industrial Monuments Route or precisely The Industrial Monuments Route of the Silesian Voivodeship (Szlak Zabytków Techniki Województwa Śląskiego, often shortened to Szlak Zabytków Techniki or SZT) is a themed, automobile tourist and cultural route in the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland, linking sites associated with the region's industrial heritage.^[3]^[4]

The route currently comprises 42 sites connected with industries such as mining, metallurgy, power generation, rail transport, communications, textiles, water production and the food industry; it includes museums, inhabited workers' settlements and operating industrial facilities owned by a mix of local governments and private and public entities.^[4]

The route was established by a resolution of the Silesian Voivodeship Board on 21 June 2005; its official opening took place on 19 October 2006 (in the then Tychy Brewing Museum).^[2]^[3]

According to the route's management regulations, the administrator is the Silesian Voivodeship, while day-to-day operation has been carried out by the Coal Mining Museum in Zabrze since 2020 (as the route operator).^[2]

Industriada

The route is associated with Industriada, an annual festival devoted to industrial heritage and organised across participating sites.^[1]^[5]

Route

The Industrial Monuments Route includes 42 sites (as of 1 January 2023), as listed by the route operator.^[6]^[7]

No.	Site	Town/city	Description
1	Stara Fabryka (Old Factory)	Bielsko-Biała	Former Büttner cloth factory; the preserved halls house exhibitions on textile-industry machinery and processes.^[8]
2	Upper Silesian Narrow Gauge Railways (Górnośląskie Koleje Wąskotorowe)	Bytom	Narrow-gauge railways historically served major industrial plants in Upper Silesia; the preserved tourist route is 21 km long and runs from Bytom via Tarnowskie Góry to Miasteczko Śląskie.^[9]
3	Museum of Metallurgy in Chorzów (Muzeum Hutnictwa w Chorzowie)	Chorzów	Opened in 2021, the museum presents the history of iron and steel metallurgy in the region, including the former Kościuszko/Królewska and Batory/Bismarck works.^[10]
4	Prezydent Shaft (Szyb Prezydent)	Chorzów	The winding tower is 42 m tall; the rope sheaves are 5.5 m in diameter. The site includes the “Sztygarka” complex (former foremen’s housing adapted for hospitality and events).^[11]
5	Printing Museum in Cieszyn (Muzeum Drukarstwa)	Cieszyn	A functioning typographic print shop with working type, matrices, bookbinding and casting equipment available for demonstration.^[12]
6	Castle Brewery in Cieszyn (Browar Zamkowy)	Cieszyn	A brewery combining historical brewing heritage with contemporary production methods, presented in a museum format.^[13]
7	Elektrownia Contemporary Art Gallery (Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej Elektrownia)	Czeladź	Contemporary art gallery located in the former power plant of the Saturn coal mine; the building is associated with Józef Pius Dziekoński and retains large-scale industrial equipment (including motor–generator sets, an ~8-ton overhead crane, and a generator nicknamed “Wanda”).^[14]
8	Familoki housing estate in Czerwionka (Familoki w Czerwionce)	Czerwionka-Leszczyny	Workers’ housing estate built for the Dębieńsko mine (1899–1916), preserving the settlement layout and associated infrastructure.^[15]
9	Museum of Iron Ore Mining (Muzeum Górnictwa Rud Żelaza)	Częstochowa	Museum documenting the regional history of iron ore mining, with extensive exhibits including original machinery and equipment.^[16]
10	Museum of Railway History (Muzeum Historii Kolei)	Częstochowa	Located in the Częstochowa Stradom station building; the collection includes railway-related exhibits and a traction-vehicle simulator for visitors.^[17]
11	Match Production Museum (Muzeum Produkcji Zapałek)	Częstochowa	An operating match-factory museum where visitors can follow the production cycle from wood preparation to packaging, with preserved machinery on display.^[18]
12	Sztygarka Training Mine (Kopalnia Ćwiczebna Sztygarka)	Dąbrowa Górnicza	Underground tourist route (~800 m of workings), built in 1927 as a training mine for a vocational technical school; used to teach mining equipment, geology documentation, ventilation and underground surveying.^[19]
13	Sanitary Engineering Museum (Muzeum Techniki Sanitarnej)	Gliwice	Located in a 1911 sewage pumping station; presents the history of the city’s sewerage system and water–wastewater infrastructure and hygiene-related technology.^[20]
14	Artistic Casting Department (Oddział Odlewnictwa Artystycznego)	Gliwice	Museum branch presenting products of the Royal Cast Iron Foundry; housed in buildings of the former “Gliwice” mine (1912–1914) designed by Georg and Emil Zillmann.^[21]
15	Gliwice Radio Station	Gliwice	Museum branch comprising the radio station complex and the wooden antenna mast (1935), with exhibitions of original radio-technology equipment.^[22]
16	Historic Waterworks Station Zawada (Stacja Wodociągowa Zawada)	Karchowice	Waterworks station established in the late 19th century; exhibitions are located in historic buildings and include original machinery and equipment.^[23]
17	Szyb Wilson Gallery (Galeria Szyb Wilson)	Katowice	Adapted from the former miners’ assembly hall and baths of the Giesche mine (1918; Georg and Emil Zillmann); operates as an art gallery and hosts the Art Naif Festival.^[24]
18	Giszowiec workers’ estate	Katowice	Workers’ settlement designed as a garden-city style estate by Georg and Emil Zillmann and preserved from demolition.^[25]
19	Nikiszowiec workers’ estate	Katowice	Workers’ settlement built for the Giesche mine (1908–1919), designed by Georg and Emil Zillmann.^[26]
20	Silesian Museum (Muzeum Śląskie)	Katowice	Museum complex located on the grounds of the former “Katowice” coal mine, with preserved mine-related buildings and structures integrated into the site.^[27]
21	Zinc Metallurgy Museum – Rolling Mill (Muzeum Hutnictwa Cynku – Walcownia)	Katowice	Preserved technological line for producing and rolling zinc sheet, including furnaces, rolling equipment and shears; the hall is approximately 91 m × 20 m × 5 m.^[28]
22	Porcelain Factory (Fabryka Porcelany)	Katowice	Porcelain factory established in 1923 in Bogucice; associated with the “Giesche” Porcelain Factory joint-stock company (per the route operator).^[29]
23	Museum of Power Engineering (Muzeum Energetyki)	Łaziska Górne	Located in a former 60 kV switchgear building (1928); exhibits include power-industry devices, meters, documents and photographs; the collection also includes protective equipment used for high-voltage work.^[30]
24	Central Firefighting Museum (Centralne Muzeum Pożarnictwa)	Mysłowice	Museum collection of firefighting heritage, reported by the route operator as exceeding 4,000 items.^[31]
25	Museum of the Silesian Press (Muzeum Prasy Śląskiej)	Pszczyna	Founded in 1985 by the Towarzystwo Miłośników Ziemi Pszczyńskiej; exhibits relate to printing and the history of the Silesian press.^[32]
26	Bread, School and Curiosities Museum (Muzeum Chleba, Szkoły i Ciekawostek)	Radzionków	Collection includes machines, vessels, photographs and ephemera related to breadmaking; includes “bread money” (tokens/vouchers) and hands-on baking demonstrations for visitors.^[33]
27	Ficinus Workers’ Colony (Kolonia robotnicza Ficinus)	Ruda Śląska	Workers’ housing estate built in 1860–1867 for the “Błogosławieństwo Boże” mine; revitalisation works began in 1995.^[34]
28	Stacja Biblioteka	Ruda Śląska	Public library housed in the historic former railway station building in the Chebzie district; comprehensive revitalisation was completed in 2018.^[35]
29	Historic Narrow Gauge Railway Station in Rudy (Zabytkowa Stacja Kolejki Wąskotorowej)	Rudy	Tourist narrow-gauge railway site near the Cysterskie Kompozycje Rud Wielkich Landscape Park; offers scenic routes and preserved rolling stock and buildings.^[36]
30	Historic “Ignacy” Mine (Zabytkowa Kopalnia Ignacy)	Rybnik	Former “Hoym” mine (opened 1792); features a preserved 1900 steam winding engine in the “Głowacki” shaft engine house and serves as a cultural venue.^[37]
31	Park Tradycji (Tradition Park)	Siemianowice Śląskie	Post-industrial site adapted into a cultural institution, centred on the former “Michał” mine shaft and engine house; includes a 1905 steam winding engine and exhibitions (including miners’ lamps).^[38]
32	Headframes of KWK Polska (Wieże KWK Polska)	Świętochłowice	Two headframes—one tower-type and one A-frame—are remnants of the former “Deutschland” mine (renamed “Polska” in 1937), whose origins date to 1870–1873.^[39]
33	Black Trout Adit (Sztolnia Czarnego Pstrąga)	Tarnowskie Góry	Located in Repecki Park; regarded as the oldest adit in Poland, with a 600 m underground boat section between the Ewa and Sylwester shafts.^[40]
34	Historic Silver Mine (Zabytkowa Kopalnia Srebra)	Tarnowskie Góry	A labyrinth of underground corridors remaining from the former royal “Fryderyk” ore mine; the tourist route is 1,740 m long and links three historic shafts: Anioł, Żmija and Szczęść Boże.^[41]
35	Museum of Tychy Prince's Breweries (Muzeum Tyskich Browarów Książęcych)	Tychy	Visitor centre offering exhibitions and multimedia presentations, with tours of both the contemporary production line and a historic brewing line with preserved technical infrastructure elements.^[42]
36	Browar Obywatelski	Tychy	Founded in 1898; an educational trail within the 19th-century brewery complex introduces the site’s history and the functions of individual buildings.^[43]
37	Ustroń Museum (Muzeum Ustrońskie)	Ustroń	Located in a former building of the “Klemens” ironworks (operating 1772–1897); presents historic exhibits related to metallurgy and forging, and includes an industrial and agricultural open-air section.^[44]
38	Queen Louise Adit (Sztolnia Królowa Luiza)	Zabrze	A museum complex with above-ground and underground sections (the former “Królowa Luiza” mine and the Main Key Hereditary Adit). The site also offers an underground boat route (the Water Route).^[45]^[46]
39	Maciej Shaft (Szyb Maciej)	Zabrze	A complex of structures of the former “Concordia” mine (later “Pstrowski”) in Zabrze-Maciejów; the shaft was converted into a deep well and the buildings have been repurposed for social, cultural and economic functions. The 1920s shaft complex retains the headframe, headgear building, engine house and water station.^[47]
40	Guido Mine (Kopalnia Guido)	Zabrze	Visitor routes on the 170 m and 320 m levels (with an additional 355 sub-level); features include a 1927 electric hoisting machine, a mining cage descent, historic workings, underground stables, the St Barbara chapel (170 m), working mining machinery, a suspended electric railway and an underground pub at 320 m.^[48]
41	Old Mill – Museum of Old Crafts (Stary Młyn – Muzeum Dawnych Rzemiosł)	Żarki	Located in a historic electric mill; the ground floor presents original mill equipment, while the upper floor features (incl. multimedia) exhibits on traditional local crafts such as shoemaking, coopering and wheelwrighting.^[49]
42	Żywiec Brewery Museum (Muzeum Browaru Żywiec)	Żywiec	Located in the buildings of the Archducal Brewery (1856); presents devices and exhibits related to beer production and brewery history. The museum comprises 18 rooms (approx. 1,600 m²) and uses multimedia elements.^[50]

Silesian Industrial Monuments Route

Industriada

Route

References

External links

Related Articles