Argentiera

Argentiera
Frazione of Sassari
250px
Country	Italy
Region	Sardinia
City	Sassari
Elevation	30 m (100 ft)
Population
• Total	70

Argentiera is a ghost town and a frazione (hamlet) in the comune of Sassari, in Sardinia, Italy. It is located 43 km from Sassari, in a narrow valley, on the coast of the Sardinian Sea.

History

Argentiera is a former mining town, its name comes from the Italian argento, that means silver. The mine was exploited since the ancient era, from the Romans. It was reopened in the 19th century by a Belgian company, called "Società di Corr'e boi". The French writer Honoré de Balzac, visited the village in 1838. The most florid period for the mining village were the 1940s. The town declined after World War II, and the mine was closed in 1963.

Today the town is the home of a few small businesses who get most of their income from tourism. It is one of the most important example of industrial archaeology in Sardinia, it is included in the Geological-Mining Park of Sardinia and preserved by UNESCO. In recent years the town has experienced a small boom in building and renovation of the old buildings, notably the old mine.

Gallery

• Punta Argentiera SS - archivio Marco Busdraghi AHO.jpg

  Cape Argentiera in North West Sardinia

• Old Silver Mine.jpg

  The Laveria

• Aregentiera 2005.JPG

  Argentiera's beach

• Argentiera geologia tipica - archivio Marco Busdraghi AHO.jpg

  Typical sandwiched stone in Argentiera

• Argentiera04.jpg

  The village