Riotinto Mining Museum is a museum located in the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

municipality of

Minas de Riotinto Minas de Riotinto is a town and municipality located in the province of Huelva, in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, southern Spain. Minas de Riotinto also comprises the neighborhoods known as El Alto de la Mesa and La Dehesa. See also * ...

, in the

province of Huelva Huelva () is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by Portugal, the provinces of Badajoz, Seville, and Cádiz, and the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital is Huelva. Its area is ...

, which is dedicated to the mining activity in the area and its history. The facilities were inaugurated in 1992 and are managed by the

Rio Tinto Foundation Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

. It has an important collection ranging from archaeological pieces to mining machinery and railroad locomotives. The Museum building is the former mining hospital of the

Rio Tinto Company Limited The Rio Tinto Company Limited (RTC) was one of the founding companies of the Rio Tinto Group conglomerate, which was responsible of the Mining, exploitation of the Riotinto-Nerva mining basin in Minas de Riotinto between 1873 and 1954. It was fo ...

History

The building that houses the museum was originally designed in 1921 as a hospital for the

(RTC) staff, and was used for that purpose between 1927 and 1983.At the beginning of 1984, the new Hospital comarcal de Riotinto was inaugurated, which replaced the mining hospital. In 1970 the south pavilion of the building was converted into

social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

. In 1987, the

was created, whose objectives included the creation of a mining museum. In this context, the Rio Tinto corporation offered to cede the building of the former RTC hospital to house the headquarters of the planned museum. In 1988 the transfer of ownership took place, and two years later the restoration and rehabilitation of the complex began. The transfer of various historical materials also took place. The facilities opened their doors to the public in 1992, as part of a series of initiatives aimed at setting up the so-called Riotinto Mining Park.

Collections

The museum has sixteen thematic rooms whose historical themes range from

prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

to the end of the 20th century, coinciding with the cessation of activity that the Riotinto mines experienced at that time. Among the material on display are various collections of mining instruments and tools, some from the

Roman period The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, archaeological remains, mining machinery, a collection of minerals from the

Iberian Pyrite Belt The Iberian Pyrite Belt is a vast geographical area with particular geological features that stretches along much of the south of the Iberian Peninsula, from Portugal to Spain. It is about 250 km long and 30–50 km wide, running northwe ...

, etc. In the basement of the museum there is a reproduction of a subway mine from the Roman period, in a commitment to interpretation. Another of its rooms is dedicated to the historic

Riotinto railway The Riotinto Railway was a Spanish narrow-gauge railway line, predominantly used for mining and industry, that operated between 1875 and 1984. During this time it became one of the main railways in the province of Huelva, gaining a large fleet ...

and has on display a variety of material, including several steam locomotives.Delgado, Campos y Fiñana, 2007, p. 24.In 1973 the Explosivos Rio Tinto group - heir to the former Rio Tinto Company Limited - had already established a railway museum from the rolling stock it owned to commemorate the centenary of the line.8 This museum, located in the locomotive depot of Rio Tinto-Estación (Cocheras Mina), had among its holdings several historic steam locomotives.

Image gallery

File:Minas de Riotinto 10 arqueologia museo by-dpc.jpg, alt= File:Minas de Riotinto, museo 1.jpg, alt= File:Locomotora eléctrica-Museo Minero Riotinto.png, alt= File:Minas de Riotinto, museo 3.jpg, alt= File:Riotinto 106.jpg, alt=

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Delgado, Aquilino; Campos, Ángel; Fiñana, Francisco (2007). «La recuperación del patrimonio ferroviario llevada a cabo por Fundación Río Tinto. Cuenca minera de Riotinto (Huelva)». ''De Re Metallica'' (8) (Madrid: Sociedad Española para la Defensa del Patrimonio Geológico y Minero). pp. 19–28. ISSN 1888-8615. * Feria, Diego José; Guerra, José Eugenio (2012). «La enfermería británica y postbritánica en el hospital de Riotinto (1873-1983)». ''Cultura de los cuidados. Revista de Enfermería y Humanidades'' (32) (Alicante: Universidad de Alicante). pp. 59–67. ISSN 1888-8615. * Fernández, G.; Romero, E. (2003). «Museo minero: eje de la protección y puesta en valor del patrimonio arqueológico en la Cuenca minera de Riotinto (Huelva)». En: Isabel Rábano ''et al.'' (ed.). ''Patrimonio geológico y minero y desarrollo regional'' (Madrid: Instituto Geológico y Minero de España): 549–562. * García, Francisco Javier; Delgado, Aquilino; Felicidades, Jesús (2013). «El turismo en la cuenca minera de Riotinto». ''Cuadernos de turismo'' (31) (Murcia: Universidad de Murcia). pp. 129–152. ISSN 1139-7861. * Pérez Macías, Juan Aurelio; Delgado, Aquilino (2007). «La metalla de Riotinto en época julio-claudia». En: Juan Aurelio Pérez Macías, Aquilino Delgado Domínguez (eds.). ''Las minas de Riotinto en época julio-claudia'' (Universidad de Huelva): 37–184.

External links

Riotinto Mining Museum
- Rio Tinto Foundation
Riotinto Mining Museum
- Tourism of Andalusia {{coord, 37.69354, -6.59658, format=dms, type:landmark_region:ES, display=title History museums in Spain Mining museums in Spain Museums in Andalusia Mining communities Rio Tinto (corporation)