Art shuttle
The Arenberg Mining Site is an iconic former coal mine, listed as a historic monument in 1992 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2012. Excavated in 1900, the pit opened in 1903, reaching a depth of over 600 metres and producing up to 3,000 tonnes of coal per day before closing in 1989.
Threatened with destruction, the site was saved thanks to the filming of Claude Berri's ‘Germinal’ in 1992.
Its conversion really began when the Urban Community moved its headquarters there in 2001.
Today, the site can be explored freely or on guided tours, attracts film shoots (films, music videos, adverts) and sporting events (Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix finishes), and is home to an audiovisual laboratory and production studios (Arenberg Creative Mine).
Programme:
9.30am: Welcome coffee
10am: Departure for Wallers-Arenberg
10.30am–12pm | Guided tour From Peak to Pixel: discover how this former mining site has been transformed into a cultural hotspot
12:15 p.m. – 2 p.m. | Gourmet lunch at Le Carô, just opposite the site: aperitif, chicken supreme with Maroilles cheese sauce (or vegetarian option with roasted sweet potato), drinks, dessert and coffee
2:15pm – 3:45pm | Guided walk: The daily life of miners in the workers' town that served as the setting for Claude Berri's 1992 film Germinal. The tour focuses on the lives of miners outside their working hours at the mine and on the role and influence of the mining company on the miners and their families
4:00 p.m.: departure for Grand-Hornu
Practical information:
Price: €79 (meal included)
Reservations: https://www.billetweb.fr/navette-patrimoine-wallers-arenberg
Information: 065/61.39.02
Limited places – non-refundable/non-cancellable