Mining Area of the Great Copper Mountain in Falun - UNESCO ...

c. Authenticity/Integrity
Mining and the many copper furnaces were the paramount activity in Falun and the
surrounding countryside for centuries. These activities have left innumerable traces
which are very palpably present in both the landscape and settlement. The mine
workings are intact, complete with the enormous Stora Stöten open-cast mine,
galleries, shafts, a visitors’ mine and also hoisting gear, head frames, wheelhouses,
winch houses, pivot and administrative buildings, dwelling houses and ancillary
facilities.
The immediate vicinity includes enormous slag heaps with the remains of copper
blast furnaces, (cold roasting furnaces and roasting-houses) and other monuments.
The mountains to the west of the mine have kilometres of canals together with
ponds, dam lakes and dam buildings. The region round about has numerous blast
furnace sites and many beautiful manor houses which survive together with historic
farmland and farming practices and historic road networks.
All in all, Kopparbergslagen is a distinctive, unique man-made landscape with no
counterpart in the world. It's well preserved with many remains, sites and
monuments and a very well preserved settlement with villages, farmsteds, buildings
and the historic town of Falun.
d. Criteria under which inscription is proposed
In keeping with the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World
Heritage Convention, we wish to refer to criteria C 24 a IV and C 24 b II: The Great
Copper Mountain in Falun and its cultural landscape are an outstanding example of a
technological ensemble with a historical industrial landscape and unique type of
buildings and settlements. The properties have adequate legal and contractual and
traditional protection and management mechanisms to ensure the conservation of the
nominated cultural properties and cultural landscapes and their accessibility to the
public.
The Falun Mine, otherwise known as the Great Copper Mountain (Stora
Kopparberget), is the oldest and most important mine working in Sweden and the
world, and of very great international significance. It is one of the world’s most
remarkable industrial monuments. The man-made landscape surrounding the mine is
very remarkable and unique by Swedish and international standards. The Falun Mine
has developed and influenced international mining technology and played a very
important part in the world economy.
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