Argentiera began as a mining hamlet and was named after the material extracted from the lead and zinc argentiferous deposits. The 61-square-kilometer mining area is included within the framework of the Historical and Environmental Geominerary Park of Sardinia. The mine, used since Roman and medieval times, resumed mining in 1867. After 1872 the tunnels were extended and a small village was built with housing for the families of miners and technicians, civil services, and a wharf for loading mined material onto ships. In 1895, the mine was sold to the “Correboi Company,” which at the instigation of its patron, Andrea Podestà, experienced a period of great productive impetus. An extraction well, renamed in his name, is dug, and the township (then with 2,000 residents) is provided with new services, such as a school, church, infirmary and wine cellar. In 1929 the mine was sold to the French-Italian company “Pertusola.” In 1963 the mine was closed. The architectural complex of the hamlet constitutes one of the greatest examples of mining archaeology in Sardinia: the municipal administration in collaboration with the Geomining Park, the University of Sassari, the LandWorks Cultural Association and other national and international partners is building an “open liquid museum” that puts public and private spaces in dialogue, combining knowledge, memory, culture and participation.
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