Valle de Samuño Mining Ecomuseum

The Valle de Samuño Mining Ecomuseum opened its doors in 2013, after the recovery of the industrial heritage of the surroundings of the mining town of La Nueva in Llangréu/Langreo, a project demanded by popular initiative of the neighbours of the valley.

The San Luis Well, which inspired the eco-museum project, was drilled between 1928 and 1930 by Carbones de La Nueva, belonging to the Real Compañía Asturiana de Minas, and was in operation until 1969. In 2013, El Pozo San Luis was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest with the category of Historic Site, as one of the most beautiful and unique examples of the industrial heritage of the Asturian coalfields.

The recovery of the railway trench that transported coal from the mountain mines of the upper Samuño to the Nalón valley, allows visitors to the Ecomuseum to get on the El Cadavíu Station and walk along the old coal road.

The route ascends between chestnut trees on the banks of the river Samuño until it enters the darkness of the bowels of the earth for more than a kilometre through the Socavón Emilia, an old mountain mine from the 19th century, to disembark at a depth of 32 metres on the first floor of the San Luis shaft, where the cage will bring the intrepid passengers to the surface.

The Samuño Valley is part of the Cuencas Mineras de Asturias Protected Landscape, Natura 2000 Network. A wonderful environment of valleys and mountains, where you can discover the traces of our mining past and walk along its routes and paths after visiting the Interpretation Centre of the Protected Landscape, located in the House of Toilets outside the Pozo San Luis.
An industrial landscape in nature, where the traces of the mining work that for more than a hundred years marked with effort and courage the character of the people of the Comarca del Nalón still survive.

A train, a valley, a mine, a village... A unique experience in European industrial tourism, a must-do.