Idrija

Encyclopedia : I : ID : IDR : Idrija

Občina Idrija

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Area:	293.7 km²
Population  - males  - females	11,990 5,885 6,105
Mayor:	Damjan Krapš
Average age:	35.58 years
Residential areas:  - households:  - families:	29.87 m²/person 4,169 3,255
Working active:  - unemployed:	5,571 296
Average monthly salary (August 2003):  - gross:  - net:	224,063 SIT 144,020 SIT
College/university students:	506
Source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, census of 2002.

Church, Idrija, October 2005

Idrija is a small town and municipality with the same name in Slovenia. It is known for its mercury mine (today in the process of closing) and laces.

Near Idrija there was notable archeological find of 50,000 year-old flute, made of juvenile cave bear femur at Divje Babe.

Under Austrian rule it was known as Idria. Mercury was discovered there in 1497, and mining productions were taken over by the government in 1580.

According to legend, a bucket maker working in a local spring spotted a small amount of liquid mercury over 500 years ago. Idrija is one of the few places in the world where mercury occurs in both its elemental liquid state and as cinnabar (mercury sulfide) ore. The subterranean shaft mine entrance known as Anthony's Shaft (Antonijev rov) is used today for tours of the upper levels, complete with life-sized vignettes of workers over the ages. The lower levels, which reach to almost 400 meters below the surface and are no longer being actively mined, are currently being remediated.

The ghost town of New Idria, California, a site of mercury mining during the 19th-century California Gold Rush, was named after Idrija.

External links

• [Idrija], official page of municipality (in Slovene)
• [tourist information], a page in English about the town and its history.

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