Coal mine du Gouffre - Hall of Mirrors - 1

This was one of my favorite lost places we visited in Belgium, if not THE favorite location. Although it was raining and rather dark, this made the ambience even more intense. The Coal mine du Gouffre is the main and last colliery company of Charbonnages du Gouffre, the "Charbonnage n°10 du Gouffre". It is located at Châtelet Belgium, near Charleroi and operated from 1916 to 1969. After closure, a part of the site was converted into a zoo for some years between 1979 and 1982 before becoming abandoned.

The mine could extract 145000 tons every year. The buildings have the same architecture (brickstone and reinforced concrete) and have been built in 1934. In the 60s, the capacity of the coal mine has been reduced, in 1963, it could only extracts 83000 tons per year. It has been definitively closed on March 31, 1969.

There are still many remarkable halls and plenty of photogenic motifs there, some even better with wet floors during the rain. This image shows the "Coal Handling Building".