Mission Bassin Minier Nord-Pas de Calais, Unesco Site, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France
Nord-Pas de Calais offers a remarkable landscape shaped by three centuries (eighteenth to twentieth century) of coal mining. The 120,000 hectares of the site consist of 109 individual properties that can be pits (the oldest dating back to 1850), headframes (supporting the lifts), heaps (some of which cover 90 hectares and exceed 140 meters high) , coal transport infrastructure, railway stations, corons and miners’ villages including schools, religious buildings, community and health facilities, mining companies’ offices, executives’ housing and executive castles, city halls, etc. The site bears witness to the search for the model of the working class, from the mid-nineteenth century to the 1960s, and illustrates a significant period in the history of industrial Europe. It informs about the living conditions of minors and workers solidarity.
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