Falun

The mine was worked by free miners, each holding a share in proportion to the smelting works he owned. In the 17th century its copper paid for Sweden's wars, and the Privy Council called the mine the nation's treasury and stronghold; output peaked in 1650 at more than 3,000 tonnes. The miners long resisted having a town of their own, and Falun received full town privileges only in 1641, when it was already one of the largest places in Sweden, with some 6,000 people. At midsummer 1687 the walls between the main workings gave way and much of the mine caved in. It happened on a holiday, when no one was underground, but the mine's best days were over.