The Wealth of the Lavrion Mineralogical Museum
The Lavrion Mineralogical Museum
It is difficult to imagine that the tiny building – an elegant but miniature example of 19th-century industrial architecture, one of the few, still-standing remnants of the once mighty Greek Lavrion Metallurgical Company – hosts a mineralogical wealth of rare beauty and value. Despite its priceless exhibits, the so-called museum is protected by a plain door-lock and operates only for a limited number of hours per week, depending mostly on volunteers. On one side of its entrance, the statue of Andreas Kordellas – the metallurgist whose work led to the revival of Lavrion’s mining activity – stands solemnly as an eternal guard, while on the other side, a full mining carriage on rails reminds that the riches of this land were not easily obtained.
The museum presents minerals and metal ores found solely in the Lavreotiki region. Around 600 excellent examples of the local underground treasures are crammed in modest showcases, including nineteen ores which are exclusive to this area. Among the colourful masses of common minerals like galena, sphalerite, hematite, or cerussite, one can admire unique examples of laurionite, serpierite, ktenasite, georgiadesite, thorikosite, and kamarizaite (*), as well as rare samples of annabergite. Despite its humble looks, the museum offers immense scientific value and excitement to all relevant experts, as well as a delight to the amateur visitors who remain stunned in front of the polymorphic variety, the colours, the crystallisation, and the undeniable energy emanating from the room.
Inside the museum (Photo credits: Dr Petros Tzeferis, photo found on Wikipedia)
The initiative was materialised in 1984, when the Society of Lavreotiki Studies managed to mobilise an astounding number of private collectors who, out of scientific interest or, merely, attraction to the ores’ beauty, had accumulated a vast range of minerals and were generous enough to offer them to the newly-founded museum. On the other hand, the municipality restored the edifice which, in the past, acted as the concierge of the modern ore washeries. Despite its unique architectural and historical value, the rest of the industrial complex (**) had been demolished in 1970; somehow, the tiny building survived, albeit lying in ruins and utter annihilation. Once repaired, its elegance shone again, and it turned into a worthy home for the land’s mineral wealth.
Annabergite (photo credits: Didier Descouenss)
Azurite Malachite
Kamarizaite
Aragonite
The overall region of Lavreotiki is an underground museum by itself: a protected UNESCO Heritage Site, one of the most unique areas in the world as far as the type and number of minerals contained in its subsoil are concerned. Indicatively, it is said that 6.8% of the metals known at a global level can be encountered here. The land was exploited since the prehistoric times, especially for silver, lead, and copper. However, the activity in the region reached its peak from the 6th to the 2nd century BC. It was thanks to a new deposit of silver discovered during the Classical Era that Athens built its legendary fleet, based on which it defeated the Persian invaders and became a military, economic and cultural superpower. Over the years, Lavrion itself grew into an administrative, commercial, and religious centre, as it is demonstrated by the Temple of Poseidon at the edge of Cape Sounio, the theatre of Thorikos (one of the most ancient theatres discovered in Greece), and numerous remains of residences and cemeteries found in the area. Unfortunately, the mining industry has never been gentle: on the contrary, it is considered one of the cruellest ways used by humans to exploit their fellow beings. Lavrion is no different, and its land has been watered for centuries by the tears, the sweat, the pain, and the blood of thousands of slaves who crawled through the narrow underground galleries exposed to poisoning, suffocation, inescapable poverty and an, overall, miserable life.
The theatre of Thorikos
After the 2nd century BC and the conquering of the Greek territory by the Romans, the industrial activity in Lavrion rapidly declined and was soon wholly abandoned. The existing deposits were almost depleted, or they required such massive investment (since the galleries had to be dug now at considerable depth), that they were unprofitable. Following the economic downturn, the settlement was soon deserted and remained as such until the middle of the 19th century.
The newly-founded modern Greek state was three decades old when Andreas Kordellas discovered that the old tailings and slags (i.e., the debris of the ancient mining activity) contained such amounts of minerals that, given the existing technology, their exploitation could lead to a financially viable enterprise. Greece – an already indebted country, occupying only a percentage of today’s territory and facing numerous challenges at a political, administrative, and social level – could not afford to proceed to any investment. Hence, the opportunity was grasped by the Italian businessman Giovanni Battista Serpieri who founded an Italian-French company for the exploitation of the mines. Serpieri revived the old town from its ashes and built new infrastructure for the thousands of miners – immigrants in their majority – who settled there. Given the narrowness of the galleries, only small-sized people or kids could work underground, while the rest of the workers were involved in the other, relevant activities. Despite the economic turnaround, the fate of the labours was no different than that of the slaves’ hundreds of years ago – as was the case in all other mining cities around the world at the time.
An unclear clause in the contract between the company and the Greek state and the significant (and, apparently, unexpected) revenue that had resulted from the new mining activity led to a dispute between Serpieri and the Greek government. The conflict was not contained within the Greek borders but spilt over and involved France and Italy as well, causing a major diplomatic and political incident. Serpieri finally decided to sell the business to the Greek state, asking for an enormous amount of money, while rumours for newly discovered deposits of gold were increasing the price, the tension, and the expectations. The solution was finally provided by Andreas Syggros, a banker of Greek origin from Istanbul, who, like Deus ex Machina, stepped in and bought Serpieri’s shares, founding the Greek Lavrion Metallurgical Company. New shares were issued and traded in public for the first time in the Greek state. It is worth noting that, at that time, Greece did not even have a stock exchange, so the trading of the shares was taking place at the billiard room of the coffeehouse “Oraia Ellas” (that is, “Beautiful Greece”) – a venue that had been playing for decades an informal but crucial role in the political life of Athens. The whispers about gold became louder and louder, and although they were never officially confirmed, they were never officially refuted either. A feeling of gold rush overtook the Greek society and everyone, from the educated members of the upper class to the small shop owners and the farmers, bought overpriced shares, believing that they will become rich overnight. There are stories of companies who paused their operations and peasants who sold their land to buy the coveted shares. The bubble did not take much time to burst, leaving thousands of people utterly bankrupt, and leading to an unprecedented (for Greece) social crisis, when such a large amount of capital was so swiftly collected to the hands of only a few. The “Lavreotiki Affair” remains a dark page in the history of modern Greece – an event that was forgotten only too quickly as the mining activity in the region declined once again.
Today, Lavrio is a quaint little town with a distinct 19th-century character evident in its neoclassical buildings. Walking in its streets feels like stepping back in time, and only a few fish taverns and the modern cafes by the sea remind of the era we live in. The city’s economy seems to revolve now around tourism, as more and more boats connect its port with several of the surrounding islands. Given its still underdeveloped infrastructure, it is a destination visited by only a few, and, hence, its ambience remains authentic and intact.
(*) These names inspired by the Greek locations in which the ores were found, or the businessmen and professors involved in the process
(**) The complex was built in 1873 by the German architect C. Luhrig.
Photo credits: © Konstantina Sakellariou except where mentioned otherwise.
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