It is practically impossible to know who were the first exploiters of the Almadén mine. It seems that the Celtic people of the Turdulos were its first exploiters and later the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians. The mineral emerged on the surface, so its presence must have been known to the first settlers in the area.
However, its exploitation became more important under the Roman occupation, when our bull skin was one more province of the vast Roman Empire.
Cinnabar, the mineral from which mercury is obtained, has been extracted from Almadén for more than 2,000 years, although the first uses were very different from the later ones.
The use of cinnabar, called minium in those times, was merely decorative. It was used to make a very powerful red pigment, vermilion. It was a pigment widely used in civil wall painting, but precisely because of its high price it was only available to the richest and of course the emperor. As an anecdote, remains of him were found in wealthy Pompeian houses. Our cinnabar reached there, being a mute witness of the catastrophe that shook that city.
This town of Ciudad Real influenced the history of Europe and America. The mercury from Almadén made possible the exploitation of silver from the New World, thanks to the discovery of an Andalusian metallurgist, who invented a very basic method that allowed the separation of silver thanks to the use of mercury and salts.
Currently it is a Mining Park, its visit is highly recommended, like the rest of the town, declared World Heritage.
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