Upper Silesia is Poland's industrial heart, a densely built region of coal mines, steelworks, spoil heaps and tidy brick housing, and at its northern edge lies Tarnowskie Gory, a town of about sixty thousand people that grew up around silver, lead and zinc. The mine and its underground water system were inscribed by UNESCO in 2017, and the town's historic centre is about a kilometre from the entrance. Katowice, the regional capital, is some thirty kilometres to the south-east.
Ore was dug here from the Middle Ages, and the town received its charter in the sixteenth century, when silver mining boomed. By the eighteenth century the shafts had reached the water table, and the real problem was how to keep the mines dry. The solution was a steam engine, one of the earliest used on the European continent, installed in 1788 on the advice of the Prussian mining administration, and a network of drainage tunnels, or adits, that carried the water away. The most famous, the Black Trout Adit, is a long, narrow tunnel that visitors can travel along in a small boat, pushed by guides, in near darkness with dripping stone walls close on either side. The old silver mine can also be toured on foot, with a tight descent underground and low passages. Wear sturdy shoes and expect a chilly, damp environment all year, at about ten degrees.
The surrounding region is a mix of towns and woodland. Riding in Silesia means a lot of urban motorway and heavy traffic, with trams, roundabouts and roadworks, and the better roads lie to the north, in the pine forests and farm country to the north, or to the south, where the Beskid mountains rise. Cobbles remain on a few older streets, and in winter salt and ice make the roads treacherous. Spring and autumn are best. Winters are cold and grey.
Tarnowskie Gory has all the services, with petrol stations on the main roads, supermarkets and a pleasant old market square with cafes. Silesian cooking is hearty, with kluski slaskie, soft potato dumplings with a dimple, served with roulade of beef and red cabbage, and the region has its own dialect, which locals speak with pride. Book mine tours in advance in summer, since groups are limited.