Main Kluczowa Hereditary Adit

The Main Kluczowa Hereditary Adit (Główna Kluczowa Sztolnia Dziedziczna) is an underground drainage and transport canal that linked Zabrze with Królewska Huta (today Chorzów). It is 14.25 km long and entered in the heritage register. Today a section of it is open to visitors.

Why it was cut

The adit was meant to drain the "Królowa Luiza" and "Król" mines and to carry output by boat along the neighbouring Adit Canal (Kanał Sztolniowy). The initiator and designer was Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden, with whom John Baildon collaborated. English and Hungarian solutions served as a model. Work began on 23 June 1799 and continued until 1869. It was dug by hand, at a rate of 177 to 520 metres per year, aided by 22 ventilation shafts and several mine shafts.

What it looks like

The tunnel is about 1.8 m wide and about 2.5 m high, and lies on average 38 m underground. Stone or brick lining was used where it was needed, and in other places the rock was left bare. Coal was carried by boat from 1806, but at the end of the 1830s the adit was abandoned as a transport route. It served a drainage function until 1953, when the outlet was closed.

Visiting

The first section was opened in 2017 (1.5 km), the second in 2018, with an underground stream of over 1100 m. The entrance leads through the Carnall shaft in the mining open-air museum. Nearby is also the Guido Mine and Coal Mining Museum.

Practical information

• The area of the Carnall shaft in Zabrze; the outlet is by ul. Karola Miarki.
• Visiting rules and hours are given by the operator, so check them before your visit (kopalniaguido.pl).