This award-winning museum is housed in the hilltop Gewerkenegg Castle. The excellent collections, which deal with mercury, lace and local history (but, sadly, not žlikrofi) are exhibited in three wings centred on a beautiful courtyard, and an accompanying booklet guides visitors through the rooms.
Exhibits span rocks and fossils (and a bowl of mercury in room 3) to lifestyles of the miners and the growth of the town. Head down the steps of the Mercury Tower (room 7) to see the mining tools used, and also the lovely modern sculpture of mercury drops suspended in perspex.
Another highlight is the wing given over entirely to the bobbin lace (klekljana čipka) woven here. Check out the tablecloth that measures 3m by 1.8m. It was designed for Madame Tito and took 5000 hours to make.
The castle itself was built in the 1520s to serve as the administrative headquarters of the Idrija mine.
