The King's Silver

In a continuation of our summer day trips, we took a drive about one-and-a-half hours west to the silver mines just outside the city of Kongsberg. The Sølvgruvene were in operation from the early 1600s until the mid-20th century. We took a very small and very noisy train about 1.5 miles into the mountain to the King's Mine, the most profitable silver mine and owned by the king himself. We had to wear jackets because it was about 48 degrees F.


Zachary got a treasure map and spent most of his time looking for the treasure chests set up around the mines.

We took a tour of about a kilometer through various tunnels, up and down stairs, stopping at various locations as the guide explained how things worked (thankfully in English!). As you may guess, safety was paramount.

One of the coolest things was an old working elevator from the 19th century that miners used to descend into the depths below, three times the height of the Eiffel tower. Two shafts alternated moving up and down as workers hopped video-game style from step to step on each one.

Because he was so successful at finding the king's treasure, Zachary was allowed to mint his own coin by hammering an image into what I can only assume is a genuine gold dabloon.