Kleofas Mine

The “Kleofas” mine in Katowice-Załęże operated from 1840 to 2004. Today it is the site of a closed mine, from which buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, protected by heritage conservation, have survived.

From Cleophas to Katowice-Kleofas

The mine was granted on 15 July 1840 under the name “Cleophas”, after St Cleophas. The application was made by the industrialist Karol Godula. Extraction in the first period lasted until 1862, after which the works were closed. Mining resumed after 1880, when the mine was bought by the company Georg von Giesches Erben, which began sinking new shafts on Obroki Street.

In 1974 it was merged with the “Gottwald” mine in Dąb, and in 1996 with the “Katowice” mine in Bogucice. The “Katowice-Kleofas” works were created then. Extraction ended in 2004, mainly because of the high risk of rock bursts and for economic reasons.

What is left

After closure the “Fortuna II” shaft kept the function of a deep pumping station, and the remaining shafts were backfilled. In 2014 most of the buildings were demolished, leaving the historic ones. Under heritage protection are the “Fortuna III” shaft complex, the boiler house from 1895 and the power station from 1893, all in the Historicist style. The complex of buildings around the “Wschodni II” shaft from 1913, in brick Historicism, was entered in the heritage register in 2010.

At the mine, the first industrial power station in Upper Silesia was built in 1888, and in 1887 a water main carrying water from the mine to Katowice, the first of its kind in the city.

Practical information

• Location: Katowice, Załęże (Witosa estate), around Obroki and Bocheńskiego streets.
• The available descriptions do not indicate that the site is open to visitors. Before your visit, check whether the buildings can be seen from the outside.
• A similar mining site is the Prezydent Shaft, about 3 km away.