Sala Silver Mine · The Man Who Waited a Hundred Years Under the Mine

The silver mine at Sala was worked for more than five hundred years, reaching a depth of over three hundred metres, with galleries winding for hundreds of kilometres. It was long Sweden’s main source of silver.

The story most often told is that of Fet-Mats. A young man fell into the mine, and forty years later his body was brought out intact. An old woman present is said to have recognised her fiancé — he had aged, she had not. At the core of the story is the preserving water in the mine.

The mine can be visited today; the underground restaurant and chapel are both in use. The temperature stays at eight degrees all year.

Historical Mysteries / Västmanland · Sweden / 1510