This sizeable complex occupies a mine site where a horrific accident killed 262 miners in 1956. A gripping multilingual video commemorates that; admission also includes access to a museum celebrating Charleroi’s heyday as a centre of steel, glass and coal industries. A glass collection has items dating back millennia, while workshops offer demonstrations of bronzeworking and glass-blowing. Allow at least two hours, or three if you include the landscaped walk up former slag heaps. Bus 52 runs hourly Monday to Saturday from Charleroi-Sud train station.
The audioguide (included with admission) gives a human dimension to the industrial site.