Pomocná štola císaře Františka Josefa I. - Hornické muzeum Cave del Predil

The West Carinthian town of Raibl (Rabelj in Slovenian, Cave del Predil in Italian) lies at the foot of Monte Re (1912 m), which already in the 8th century BC served the locals as a source of lead and zinc. Commercial mining of these raw materials continued not only during the Roman Empire, but also after its demise. From the 14th century, Carinthia belonged to the Austrian Habsburgs, under whose administration the local mine became the largest producer of lead and zinc in the Alps.


As is usual in ore mines, the deeper the mining work progressed, the more groundwater complicated them. In the years 1899-1902, a drainage adit with a slope of 0.2%, a width of 2.5 m, a height of 2 m and a length of 4,844 m was therefore drilled to the southeast from the 15th floor of the mine (240 m deep). The adit passed under the Predil ridge Pass (Predelske glave) and thus drained water from the mine into the valley of the river Koritnice, in the section between the villages Mittel Breth and Unter Breth (Gorenji Log and Spodnji Log pod Mangartom). At its grand opening in June 1905, it was honored with the title: "Auxiliary adit of Emperor Francis Joseph I" (Kaiser Franz Josef I. Hilfsstolen, La galleria di Bretto) ...


Due to the fact that every third miner in the Raibl mine lived in Breth (Log pod Mangartom), ie in the places where the adit opened, it was decided to use it not only to drain water, but also to pass (and prospectively passage) people. In the following years, therefore, its ceiling was raised to 3.20 m, and around 1909, an underground narrow-gauge electric railway was put into operation, powered by the nearby Možnica hydroelectric power plant. The track shortened the miners' journey from the current 12 km walk across the mountain saddle to less than 5 km of relatively comfortable driving, moreover, regardless of the weather ...


When Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary in May 1915, Italian troops occupied the border area and their artillery virtually blocked the key Austro-Hungarian supply route, leading from Raibl via the Predil Pass to Breth and on to Flitsch (Bovec). The Austro-Hungarian command therefore decided to use this important section of the front of the gallery of Emperor Franz Joseph I. pulleys of modern "pantographs") dragged through the gallery to Breth. The transport of human material, ie soldiers, also took place in the same way. Unlike ammunition and food, they sometimes returned this way (in case of injury or vacation) ...


Although this sophisticated logistics system worked "only" 16 hours a day (at night it was possible to use the road through the Predil saddle - in the case of artillery it was even necessary), it still transported a total of 446,890 troops to the front in 1915-1917. 240 094 tons of material. Approximately 250,000 wounded were transported in the opposite direction. The peak of the use of this transport route was reached in the preparation of a successful Austro-Hungarian offensive at Caporetta (Kobarid), when 270,000 Austro-Hungarian and German soldiers were transported there (for the "unhurried" ignorance of the Italian command) ...


After World War I, Raibl (now Cave del Predil) fell to Italy and Breth (Log under Mangart) to Yugoslavia. Due to the fact that the composition of the mine's staff remained practically the same, a third of its workers still lived in (now) Yugoslav territory and commuted to work in the usual way. This situation did not change much even after the Second World War, only a marble slab was installed in the wall at the appropriate place, marking the border between Italy and Yugoslavia. Later, an Italian financial guard post was set up at this place, which probably created the only underground border crossing in the world, used not only by Yugoslav miners, but allegedly here and there by political refugees from socialist countries ...


In 1991, a few weeks before the declaration of independent Slovenia, the Cave del Predil mine was closed.At that time, its corridors were about 120 kilometers long, upwards from the so-called zero level (foothills of Monte Re) reached a height of 450 m, downwards a depth of 520 m. on the Slovenian side it was closed. Only its regular maintenance takes place, which, thanks to the existence of the Schengen Agreement, can do without the assistance of border authorities. A mining museum was established in the Italian Cave del Predil, which also includes a tour of part (about 1,600 m) of the gallery of Francis Joseph I, including a one-kilometer ride by electric train ...

Image sources:
http://www.cavedelpredil.com/index.htm
www.ilpinguinoviaggiatore.it
casavacanze.cervignanobaseball.it
http://www.minieradiraibl.it/museo.htm
www.istitutonastroazzurro.it
www.geopedia.si

Image sources:
http://www.cavedelpredil.com/index.htm
www.ilpinguinoviaggiatore.it
casavacanze.cervignanobaseball.it
http://www.minieradiraibl.it/museo.htm
www.istitutonastroazzurro.it
www.geopedia.si

Image sources:
http://www.cavedelpredil.com/index.htm
www.ilpinguinoviaggiatore.it
casavacanze.cervignanobaseball.it
http://www.minieradiraibl.it/museo.htm
www.istitutonastroazzurro.it
www.geopedia.si

Own photo source