Mauritius Mine

The Kryštof adit is part of the Mauritius mine which has been the largest and deepest (220 m) tin mine in the Czech Ore Mountains. The lower parts of the mine underneath the Kryštof adit are accessible by climbing and allow ingress as far as 15-30 m above the level of the main Blasius drainage adit (i.e. to a depth of approximately 100 m below the surface). Below this level the mine is flooded. However, the accessible part of the mine constitutes a system of horizontal tunnels, vertical shafts and stopes. Originally, there have been a number of stopes between the levels of "Tagstrecke" and "Festenburg" adit, which are now preserved as fragments only. During looting in the 18th century the remaining pillars were mined out. This resulted in large underground voids that may stretch over dozens of metres and across several levels. The non-flooded part of the largest stope is 60 m long, 40 m high and 15 m wide, however, it may be assumed that it originally reached the deepest parts of the mine. The preserved fragments of older parts of the mine often show a very regular oval cross-section indicating fire-setting technique for development. The mine workings include a large number of dry walls as well as areas with carved niches for attaching the timberwork and supporting water drainage installations.