Heritage with Related Tags
Heritage of Mercury. Almadén and Idrija
The property includes mining sites in Almaden (Spain), where mercury (mercury) has been mined since ancient times, and Idrija (Slovenia), where mercury was first discovered in 1490 AD. The Spanish site includes buildings related to its mining history, including the Retamar Castle, religious buildings and traditional dwellings. The Idrija site features mercury shops and infrastructure, miners' quarters and a miners' theatre. These sites bear witness to the intercontinental mercury trade that led to centuries of recorded mercury mining in Europe and America. They are the two largest mercury mines in the world, and until recently, mining had only begun.
Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy
The site includes 17 buildings in the city of Muharraq, three offshore oyster farms, part of the coast and the fort of Qal'at Bu Mahir at the southern end of Muharraq Island, from where ships once set out to the oyster farms. Listed buildings include wealthy merchants' houses, shops, warehouses and a mosque. The site is the last intact example of the pearling tradition and the wealth it created during the period when the pearl trade dominated the Gulf economy (from the 2nd century AD to the 1930s, when cultured pearls were developed by Japan). It is also an outstanding example of the traditional use of marine resources and the interaction between humans and the environment that shaped the economic and cultural identity of island society.