French coal town Bashny.Net

The French town of Loos-en-Gohelle in 1970 moved to the "green economy", and has been for 45 years there is no longer working, no coal mine.





However, as a reminder of the last time in this place there were two huge slag heap, which have become symbols of the city.



Each of the waste heaps in height up to 66 meters, and the top looked particularly impressive.



About reserves of coal in Loos-en-Gohelle it became known in the 1850s. Then it began a new era of development of the city, which later became one of the centers for the extraction of minerals. The population began to grow, and life to flourish. However, in 1915, all hopes for further development was interrupted - the First World War virtually wiped cleaned the settlement to the ground, not sparing a single building.

His first coal mine town closed in 1970, thus marking its intention to completely switch from coal to solar energy.



The remaining two huge pyramids of slag now familiar to anyone who has traveled between London, Calais and Brussels by train or motorway. These black mountains, which have become a familiar decoration of the scenery, are the highest in Europe and heaps visible from afar.



The concept of "waste heap" means a mound of waste rock removed during the underground field development. Urban solar panels on the background coal piles look like the one encountered in the past and the future picture of the city.