“The sun shines. Beams of light run through the sky”. So starts the poem by Ippolito Nievo dedicated to the Cludinico coal mine at Ovaro and so begins our visit: the sky is a clear blue and the sun is hot on the skin. We park the car and take a look at the village: it is a picturesque postcard in which stone houses rise attached to each other as if they wanted to join ranks, and on hot summer days like these, the doors to the streets are always open to bring in the soft air that comes from the mountains.

Our guide, Mr. Silvano, welcomes us near the entrance to the former mining warehouse, now converted into museum, where we find some interesting exhibits that testify to what life must have been like for those who worked in the mine; these objects talk to us and help us feel the mood of the times.

The second part of the visit involves the screening of a video story in which some former miners recall their memories: there were three shifts and all workers from the nearby villages came on foot, using paths that joined near the mine entrance. The night shift was awaited with excitement by the inhabitants of the valley because it brought with it a stunning spectacle: every miner illuminated the path with a lantern, and seen from afar, these long lines of light that came from different directions seemed to draw a bright star on the dark side of the mountain.

After the documentary comes the time for us to put on the safety helmets and take the path up to the entrance to the “Creta d’Oro” mine, where the extraction zone is still intact and accessible; this is an illuminated route two kilometers over four levels connected via steep wooden staircases.

“Down in the dark bowels of the mountain” there is a constant temperature of 15° and the silence is total; on closing one’s eyes, however, it is easy to imagine the dull thuds of the picks biting into the rock to extract the coal. The route is narrow and sinuous, and in addition to rooms and deposits it is also interesting to observe the colourful limestone concretions that the continuous dripping of water has created over the years. The visit takes about two hours and when we reach the exit we remain dazzled by the sun’s rays.

Until 1957, Cludinico was a mining village that accommodated up to 1,600 workers, with many people who worked indirectly for the mine. There were three inns open 24 hours a day and a grocery store. The old black gold is still there hidden in the meanders of these mine-shafts, but it would be an uneconomical to restart the mining activity. Chatting as we return to the village, Mr. Silvano tells us that today only 70 people live in Cludinico and there is a single inn that opens every so often.

We stop to admire the view from the museum terrace with eyes full of green and nature and we notice that our hands are black from touching the sides of the tunnels. There is no better souvenir to take home: we have made a trip to the centre of our land, rediscovering a past as concrete as rock.

Ph: Alessandro Secondin