Les Ponts-de-Cé Lifestyle

Discover the Mine Bleue website

Written by Charlotte
14 nov. 2024
Discover the Mine Bleue website

Discover the Blue Mine

50 km northwest of Angers, in the Segréen region, La Mine Bleue is located in the heart of a former slate quarrying site, at Noyant-la-Gravoyère.
An emblematic roof covering of the Anjou region, blue slate blends with the white of tuffeau in the Loire Valley to create the typical contrast found on all Loire castles.
While the old tuffeau quarries have been rehabilitated as mushroom beds or wine cellars, the slate quarrying sites have often been abandoned. The Galetière slate quarries in Noyant have been converted into a tourist site: its purpose is to convey the work of the miners who extracted the slate there from 1916 to 1936.
You can discover the depths of the mines and the surprising schist scenery, as well as the miners' difficult working conditions.
You'll also learn about the physical characteristics of slate and its uses, from extraction to cutting, in construction, art and everyday life. Take advantage of your stay in Angers to discover the region's natural heritage on walks along the beaten track. Hikers will appreciate a guided tour of this magnificent site, and can enjoy an open-air picnic as they leave the mine.

Dive 126 meters underground

The exceptional nature of the Mine Bleue site lies in the depth to which visitors are invited to descend: 126 metres below ground at the lowest point of the visit! It's an impressive descent, aided today by an elevator, but one that miners used to make on foot, via an 830-step staircase.

The same elevator takes visitors up in less than a minute, whereas it used to take miners an hour to see the light again.
Today, the mines are also visited with a helmet.
The journey underground is accompanied by a guide and lasts between 1h30 and 2 hours.
The temperature at the bottom of the extraction site is 13° all year round.
You'll have the opportunity to travel through the bowels of the earth on board an authentic mining train, up to a monumental extraction room. At the end of the tour, a shale splitting demonstration awaits you.

 

La Mine Bleue: prices and opening hours

Individual rates for visits to the Mine Bleue are :

  • Full price for adults aged 18 and over: €16
  • Teens 12-17 full price: €14
  • Admission is free for children under 4.

Family rates (minimum 2 adults + minimum 2 teens/children)

  • Adults aged 18 and over: €14.50
  • Teenagers aged 12-17: €12
  • Children aged 4-11: €10

The Blue Mine site is open from April to November.

Outside school vacations :

  • Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays: open from 10 a.m.
  • Wednesdays: open from 2 p.m.

School vacations :

  • Open every day from 10 a.m.

From June to early July, and during the first two weeks of September, two guided tours are offered on weekdays, at 2.15pm and 3.45pm.

All visit times at www.laminebleue.com

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