About the company

Company Podzemlje Pece d.o.o.

Name: Podzemlje Pece, Podjetje za razvoj turistične in muzejske dejavnosti, d.o.o.
Address: Glančnik 8, 2392 Mežica
Phone: 00 386 (2) 870 01 80
Website: www.podzemljepece.com
Founder: Gradbeni materiali d.o.o., owned by TAB d.o.o.
Share capital: 400,395 EUR

Main activities of the company:
Museums activities
Operation of historical sites and buildings and similar visitor attractions

Responsible person: manager mag. Suzana Fajmut Štrucl, univ. dipl. inž. geol.

The Mežica lead and zinc mine was one of the last lead-zinc mines in Europe that was still operating at the end of the 20th century. In more than three hundred years of operation, it provided the daily bread for numerous families and had a significant impact on life outside the mine in the entire area of Mežica Valley. After the mine was closed, there still remained a rich technical, cultural and natural heritage.
Based on strong local initiative and desire of employees to preserve this heritage, the company RSC Mežica v zapiranju d.o.o. approved the project “Securing parts of mineral ore deposits in Mežica for the purpose of preserving natural, technical and cultural heritage”. This project defined an area of the mine that shall remain open even after the mine is finally closed and that shall be used in tourist, educational, research and study purposes.

The company’s mission is to preserve the rich technical, natural and cultural heritage of mining and modernize it by developing other activities: tourism, crafts and entrepreneurship.
It is our vision to be a successful tourist museum company that preserves this extraordinarily diverse heritage of the past (historical knowledge, equipment, facilities…) and uses it as a foundation for creating innovative tourism products.
Tourist mine and museum has been opened to visitors since 1997. At that time a part of the arranged area inside the mine and a part of the museum in Glančnik were opened to the public. From then on, new and exciting content has been added on a regular basis. By the end of 2013, the tourist mine and museum was visited by 258,442 tourists, of which 23,143 opted to take a tour by bike.

Around 20,000 people visit the tourist mine and museum each year which makes it the most popular tourist destination in Koroška.
In eighteen years of operation, we have established closed ties to tourist mines and museums in Slovenia, Austria and Italy as well as many professional institutions, tourist service providers, educational institutions and others. We have participated in many national and international projects. We also initiated the founding of the cross-border Karavanke/Karawanken Geopark, a member of ENG and GGN.

Our company has received numerous awards, such as Srebrni sejalec award for innovative product 2004, awarded by the Slovenian Tourist board. In 2007 we were nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award and in 2012 we received the golden coat of arms from the municipality Mežica. In 2013 a part of our offer – mine tour by canoe was one of the finalists for the Sejalec award.

In 2011, the company Podzemlje Pece d.o.o. and the municipality Črna na Koroškem were among the finalists for the title European Destinations of Excellence – EDEN 2011. On our 20th anniversary we received an award for good cooperation by the center for curricular and extracurricular activities.