Monteponi Mine

About 2km west of Iglesias, the sprawling Monteponi mining complex, now abandoned, was once one of Sardinia's most important producers of lead, zinc and silver. Extraction on the site started in around 1324 and continued on and off until 1992, when the entire operation transferred to Campo Pisano across the valley. Guided visits take in the Galleria Villamarina, an underground tunnel that connected the mine's two main shafts: the Pozzo Vittorio Emanuele and Pozzo Sella.