La Mine Bleue: 126 metres underground!
We bet you've never been this deep underground! Right in the heart of the Segré area, La Mine Bleue (The Blue Mine) plunges visitors into the depths of the Earth on a discovery of the daily life of slate miners in the early 20th century. An amazing escape.
Plunged into the secret of La Mine Bleue
With near-total silence and moisture dripping onto the rocks, visitors must squint as they attempt to move forward in the half-light provided by a few lamps... Welcome to the heart of La Mine Bleue. Be sure to put on your helmet and wrap up warm before climbing into the lift and beginning the vertiginous 126-m descent underground. It is cool down in the depths, with the temperature fixed at 13°C all year round.
Recreated scenes bring the miners of the time back to life
In the heart of the former mining site, the guided tour in the galleries invites visitors on an unusual journey. An imposing excavation suddenly appears. It is actually a room from which the slate was extracted. The impression is striking, nothing seems to have changed for ages. And to think that at the beginning of the last century, we sweat here eight hours a day, in the dust, to extract blue gold... Scenographies show, thanks to models, this slave labor.
Discover the work of a slate splitter
Back on the surface, we learn about the work of the splitter, who would break the slate into fine plates used for roofing. Visitors are often left open-mouthed as they watch this highly technical process, which verges on performance. Some guides even invite visitors to have a go! The industrial heritage really does have some surprises in store...
