Revitalised geotourism mining heritage potentials in the Posavje Folds

The territory of the Posavje Folds offers many geotourism potentials reflecting in particular in rich mining heritage. For a long time, local communities have considered them mainly in the context of local problems, but nowadays we may see individual examples of successful revitalization of cave chambers and mining structures. All that has given rise to fantastic stories about the mining wealth of the underground world and the mining heritage interpreted with modern approaches and new findings. In addition to managers and heritage owners, the revitalization process also includes scientists, artists, architects and educators who, each in their own way, contribute to a holistic perspective of the values of the past in light of contemporary understanding of this type of heritage. As a result, the territory has witnessed the revitalization of the medieval lead and silver mine Padež pri Laškem, the former Laško coal mine machine room, which was transformed into the Strojnica Gallery, and the polymineral mine Sitarjevec within the last five years. All mentioned examples are cases of abandoned mining activities with long-lasting mining tradition, which left an imprint in the area in terms of the diverse social structure of the population and in terms of town development, which also allows us to evaluate from a distance the contribution to the construction of the railway between Vienna and Trieste, which put these towns on the European map of centres of industrial significance in the mid-19th century. Trains that still connect the Austrian capital with the Adriatic coast may in future, in light of sustainable green tourism, attract curious guests to stop and linger a while, which is the ultimate goal of the attempts of local communities to revitalise mining heritage. Meanwhile, the goals set can only be realised with the help of new and attractive tourist products that reflect own creativity related with tradition ranging from design ideas, music events, art installations, popular science evenings; in short, with contents that are suited to visitors of all ages.