Couriot - Musée de la Mine

Over het museum

The Couriot shaft was sunk from 1909 by the Société des Mines de la Loire, to plans by engineer Henry Couriot, to reach a coal seam more than 700 metres deep. Completed in 1919, it was then among the most modern shafts in Europe. Between the wars its installations were constantly modernised, and in 1936 it became the central shaft of the Saint-Étienne basin, with a capacity of 900,000 tonnes of coal a year and about 1,500 miners.

The shale from coal washing was piled above the shaft from 1938. It forms the two conical heaps that the people of Saint-Étienne call the town’s “mamelles” (breasts). After nationalisation in 1946, production was concentrated elsewhere: extraction at Couriot ceased in 1965, the shaft was closed in 1973, and underground mining ended across the whole basin in 1983.

The mining museum opened on the site in 1991. The shaft, its buildings and its heaps were listed as monuments historiques in 2011. At the end of 2014 a new Couriot was inaugurated, with a park of about 8 hectares designed by landscape architect Michel Corajoud and about 1,000 m² of contemporary exhibition space. Visitors see the surface buildings preserved in their original state, the collections on coal and the life of miners, and a reconstructed mine gallery, accessible only with a guide.

Hoogtepunten

• Reconstructed mine gallery, visited with a guide (1 hour 15 minute tour)
• Large pithead washhouse and compressor room preserved in their original state
• Relief model of the coalfield, shown at the 1889 Exposition Universelle
• Winding-engine room, the heart of the shaft
• 8-hectare park at the foot of the headframe and the two heaps

Vaste collectie

• Le charbon, une épopée du territoire – Three spaces for understanding coal: its geological formation, the historical context of Saint-Étienne, and the social and human life of miners, presented in a sensory and playful way.
• La grande histoire de Couriot – A space devoted to the great shaft, with a tactile model and a slide show, as well as objects chosen by the Société des Mines de la Loire to represent itself.
• Six siècles d'aventure houillère – Across 600 m², display cases of work and everyday objects of miners and a large, restored relief model of the basin, shown at the 1889 Exposition Universelle.

Opgericht

1991

Beheerder

Ville de Saint-Étienne

Toegangsprijzen & kortingen

Gratis toegang: First Sunday of the month, European Museum Night, European Heritage Days and Saint Barbara’s Day (Sainte-Barbe; without going down into the gallery).

The base price is for a self-guided visit (excluding the reconstructed mine gallery). Also free for group companions, ICOM members, holders of a press card, the Pass Loisirs Séniors and the Sainté Pass; proof is required. Access to the park is free all year round. Tickets for guided tours and workshops are bought online.

Toegankelijkheid

• Deels rolstoeltoegankelijk
• Lift
• Aangepast toilet: geen informatie
• Gehandicaptenparkeerplaats
• Hulphonden welkom: geen informatie
• Tastmodellen / voelbare objecten
• Rondleidingen in gebarentaal: geen informatie
• Informatie in eenvoudige taal: geen informatie
• Audiodescriptie: geen informatie

All rooms of the museum are accessible to people with reduced mobility and to strollers, except the reconstructed mine gallery. Access to the park is via the footbridge with a lift. Reserved disabled parking in front of the museum. Two wheelchairs and folding seats are lent for the surface areas; large-print documents are available at the entrance to the rooms, and a tactile model is on display. Adapted routes and workshops can be arranged on request.

Kinderen & gezin

Erg geschikt voor kinderen & gezinnen

• Gezinsrondleidingen & workshops
• Speurtocht, doeboekje of kinderaudiotour
• Kinderwagenvriendelijk
• Verschoonruimte
• Speeltuin / speelhoek

Children of all ages are welcome at the museum, but the guided tours are really aimed at children from age 6, and strollers are not admitted into the gallery. For 0- to 3-year-olds, a “sac à trésors” (treasure bag) is lent free of charge at reception for a self-guided visit of the surface rooms. Two free activity booklets let visitors discover the park. The park has play equipment for children, and the museum provides a baby-changing area in its toilets.

Bereikbaarheid & parkeren

People with reduced mobility reach the Joseph Sanguedolce park via the new footbridge with a lift.

Service & horeca

• Museumwinkel

The shop sells miners’ lamps, books, postcards and souvenirs. There is also an online shop. The park has large lawns where you can picnic.

Evenementen & zaalverhuur

Het museum heeft hierover geen informatie gepubliceerd.

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