VAGONETTO

51 klm
AMFISA, 33100 PREFECTURE OF FOKIDA
Tel: 22650-28826 210-6296294
Fax: 22650-28679
e-Mail: info@vagonetto.gr
Web Site: http://www.vagonetto.gr

Fokis Mining Park-Vagonetto

Fokis Mining Park–Vagonetto is a unique theme park, situated on the 51^st km. of the Lamia-Amfissa National Road in Greece, between mountains Ghiona and Parnassos, within the broader area of S&B Industrial Minerals S.A. premises.

Vagonetto aims at presenting the operation areas of a mine, but also at informing, recreating, and educating the new generations on the history of the exploitation of bauxite, and on the people who worked in mines, honoring and promoting the mining history of Fokis.

The idea for the creation of Vagonetto was conceived by the miners themselves, the same people who worked in the Fokis mines, and wanted to safeguard and promote the region’s history – inextricably wound up with the bauxite mining process.

Its construction started in 1998 by S&B Industrial Minerals S.A. (ex Silver & Baryte Ores Mining Co. S.A.), and is open to the public since September 2003.

A tour through Vagonetto gives the visitor the chance for a step-by-step introduction to the bauxite mining process. The acquaintance with the history of bauxite begins in the exhausted underground gallery 850, continues in the Exhibition Area and the Interactive Wing of Digital Technology, and is completed at the open-air Machinery Exhibition.

Underground Gallery 850

The underground gallery 850 was in operation between 1967 and 1972. It has been restored with all necessary safety measures in place. The visitor, equipped with a hard hat and a waterproof coat, is carried in the VAGONETTO, the wagon train used by the miners some thirty years ago, to the starting point of the walking itinerary. He, then, enjoys a wandering around the unique exhibits, making «stops» in a typical working day of the old time miners.

Equipped also with a modern auto-guiding system, he can «hear» the workers speak their own dialect, «operate» the machines, and «wear» the same outfit they used to wear at that time.

The gallery is all lighted up, and the ventilation provided appropriate for a comfortable and enjoyable visit. The audio-guide system is available in 6 languages (Greek, English, French, Spanish, Italian, German), and was funded by the Εuropean Regional Development Fund. It was granted the distinction of a work-norm by the European Community Support Framework.

Exhibition Area

The acquaintance with the history of bauxite continues in the Exhibition Area, which consists of the Geology Room, the Topographical Workshop, the Lab, and the Environmental Rehabilitation Hall. In each of these rooms, the visitor will get to know the mining history of Fokis, the various mining techniques, as well as the environmental rehabilitation methods during, and post mining.

In the same area, the museum shop will offer alternatives for souvenir gifts and publications, not only on bauxite, but also on the various minerals and ores, as well as on Fokis, in general.

Interactive Digital Technology Wing

The Interactive Digital Technology Wing, a multifaceted experience, is addressed to everybody, utilizing the entertainment value of digital technology, along with its educational aspect.

Three rooms, three colours, three different stories in a specially designed environment, where the visitor can «stir» the cosmic matter, «run» alongside the alumina grains inside an industrial pipe, «chute down» virtually along with the molecules of the mineral, «travel» on the tip of a giant drilling machine searching for bauxite, and tap with his foot in order to start the virtual drilling (or actual film screening).

In the blue room, the visitor can watch a film on «the story of bauxite», a mixture of fiction and documentary narrated by young Maria, granddaughter and daughter of miners from Amfissa, a story on the age-old history of the Ghiona mining region and the numerous applications of aluminium in our daily life. The movie pays tribute to the thousands of workers in the bauxite mines.

In the red room, on an overhanging screen shaped like a stalactite, the visitor can watch the science fiction animation film presenting the journey of bauxite until it is transformed into aluminium. The visitor himself starts the projection of the film through a touch screen also provoking loud explosions in the universe!

Finally, in the green room, the visitor crosses a forest of stalactites in order to drill his own virtual borehole. Touching various sensors, he follows the steps of a geologist until he can reach the ideal conditions for a profitable drilling.

Open-air Machinery Exhibition

The open-air machinery exhibition consists mainly of obsolete underground mining machines, exhibited in the area by the church of Santa Barbara, the protectress of mines and miners. Explanatory signs help the visitor understand the use of each one of them.

ENTERTAINMENT » CATERING-GENERAL » ENTERTAINMENT PARKS

/ΓΡΑΦΕΙΑ ΑΘΗΝΩΝ: ΣΥΓΓΡΟΥ 21 & ΒΟΥΡΒΑΧΗ 2, 11743 ΑΘΗΝΑΤΗΛ.: 210-9200293ΦΑΞ: 210-9200294/
id: 48945