Guided tour of the lead and silver mines site (17th-19th centuries)

"Les Monts d'Argent", was the name of the town of Peisey during the French Revolution, testifying to the importance of lead and silver mines, the exploitation of which began under Louis XIV to stop under the 3rd Republic.
During the entire 1st Empire from 1802 to 1814, the French School of Mines was established in Peisey. The "Palais de la Mine", a large building located at the end of a majestic alley of larches (bicentenary), was the seat of the School and then housed a scientific library, laboratories and accommodation for engineering students who were learning to "the art of mining and metallurgy". All around, on a 3 hectare site, in a magnificent natural environment, you can still see the remains of industrial facilities dedicated to the mechanical and metallurgical processing of ore: gallery, laundromat, foundry, etc.
The model of a bocard, installed in the former French School of Mines, allows you to see in motion the technologies used to crush the rock, by hydraulic force.
Thanks to the abundant archives, you will dive into the fascinating history of this curious industrial adventure of yesteryear: the arrival of English industrialists who clash with the interests of the local nobility, the technologies used, the workforce foreign (English, German) and local, the problems posed by hydraulic energy (unavailable in winter), by fuel and deforestation, transport, etc ...
The mine having been sometimes nationalized, sometimes privatized, its history is at the heart of regional history and its hesitations: Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, revolutionary France then Napoleonic, again the Sardinian administration then the Italian unity, and finally the attachment to France.
It is to discover this history, this site and these men, famous scholars or modest peasant miners, that the association Le Palais de la Mine invites you by following the guided and commented visit.