Argentiera is a small town and a

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a '' comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate terri ...

(hamlet) in the

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

Sassari Sassari (, ; sdc, Sàssari ; sc, Tàtari, ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 127,525 inhabitants, and a Functional Urban Area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island ...

, in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, aft ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It is located 43 km from Sassari, in a narrow valley, on the coast of the

Sardinian Sea Sardinian refers to anything related to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. More specifically it can refer to: * Sardinian people * History of Sardinia *Sardinian language * Sardinian literature * Music of Sardinia *Cuisine of Sardinia The cu ...

History

Argentiera is a former mining town, its name comes from the Italian ''argento'', meaning silver. The mine had been exploited since the ancient era, beginning with the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. It was reopened in the 19th century by "Società di Corr'e boi", a Belgian mining company. The French writer

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...

, visited the village in 1838. The most florid period for the mining village was the 1940s. The town declined after World War II, and the mine was closed in 1963. Today the town is the home of a few small businesses who get most of their income from tourism. It is one of the most important examples of

industrial archaeology Industrial archaeology (IA) is the systematic study of material evidence associated with the industrial past. This evidence, collectively referred to as industrial heritage, includes buildings, machinery, artifacts, sites, infrastructure, doc ...

, it is included in the Geological-Mining Park of Sardinia and preserved by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

. In recent years the town has experienced a small boom in building and renovation of the old buildings, notably the old mine.

Gallery

File:Punta Argentiera SS - archivio Marco Busdraghi AHO.jpg, Cape Argentiera in North West Sardinia File:Old Silver Mine.jpg, The ''Laveria'' File:Aregentiera 2005.JPG, Argentiera's beach File:Argentiera geologia tipica - archivio Marco Busdraghi AHO.jpg , Typical sandwiched stone in Argentiera File:Argentiera04.jpg, The village

References

Frazioni of the Province of Sassari {{sardinia-geo-stub