Subjects
Subjects
The mine is part of an area of great environmental interest. The lines of the lead-zinc mine were granted to the Société Anonime des Mines de Plomb Argentifère de Gennamari et Ingurtosu until several changes of ownership. There were moments of crisis several times, also linked to periodic international economic crises and culminating in the Second World War, and finally came to the transfer in 1964 to the Monteponi-Montevecchio Company, which closed the plants four years later.
The village is part of a landscape that the accumulations of materials in landfills contribute to making it decidedly interesting and, often, suggestive also because of the changing morphology of the territory. In the main settlement, the management building emerges, the so-called 'Castle', built around 1870 by the German engineer Georg Bornemann. The most important façade, covered in stone and concluded by a sequence of hanging arches under the roof, overlooks the valley and shows a compact shape underlined by arched windows, including multi-window windows, arranged symmetrically on different floors. Through a short arched gallery, you enter the back courtyard where a wooden balcony in neo-gothic forms, projecting, and the external walls of bricks with a wooden brace stand out, both characteristics that clearly recall the northern origins of the designer.
The church of Santa Barbara is a simple gable construction with a blind three-lobed arch and an entrance surmounted by a lunette that bears traces of a deteriorated painting. The interior is much more interesting and has three tall naves with Doric pillars and covered by a flat ceiling with frescoes and decorative marbles. Not far away, at the foot of the external staircase, is the monument in the shape of a neo-Gothic spire, commemorating one of the owners, Lord Brassey, who died in 1919.
The Brassey laveria, accessible from the village to Naracauli, is named after the English gentleman: the magnificent building comprised various buildings, arranged according to the succession of mineral processing. Today, powerful and suggestive remains remain on five levels, which, combining stone, concrete and brick, testify to the various moments of construction. The most significant part is the large mullioned window with an oculus that dominates it.
Reaching the sea along the dunes of Piscinas, you can see the colony's simple buildings for employees, renovated starting in 1985 for hotel use.
The mine is part of the Geominerary, Historical and Environmental Park of Sardinia, recognized by UNESCO.
History of studies
The mining plants of Ingurtosu are mentioned in several works on industrial archeology in Sardinia.
Bibliography
F. Masala, “Mining Architectures in Sardinia between revivals and eclecticism”, in Man and Mines in Sardinia, edited by T.K. Kirova, Cagliari, Edizioni della Torre, 1993, pp. 120-123;
S. Mezzolani-A.Simoncini, Sardinia to save. Landscapes and mine architecture, Nuoro, Archivio Fotografico Sardo, 1993, pp. 117-129;
F. Masala, “Mining settlements. Forms, Architectures, Problems”, in Founding Cities in Sardinia, edited by A. Lino, Cagliari, Cuec, 1998, pp. 46-48;
F. Masala, Architecture from the Unification of Italy to the End of the 20th Century. Nuoro, Ilisso, 2001, sheet 49;
Eclecticism and mines. European reflections in Sardinian architecture and society between the 19th and 20th centuries, exhibition catalog, curated by M.B. Lai-P. Olivo-G. Usai, MiBAC [2004], pp. 65-70.
How to get there
The Ingurtosu mine can be reached from Arbus via the SS 126 towards S for about 7 km until the junction for themining village.
Content type:
Mine
Province: Sud Sardegna
Common: Arbus
Macro Territorial Area: South Sardinia
POSTAL CODE: 09031
Address: SP 66 - località Ingurtosu
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Author : Romagnino, Ludovica
Author : Romagnino, Ludovica
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