Jáchymov

Jáchymov is a spa town in Karlovy Vary District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,200 inhabitants. The town is located in the Ore Mountains. Jáchymov has a long mining tradition, thanks to which it used to be the second most populous town in the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1534. At first silver was mined here. The silver Joachimsthaler coins minted here since the 16th century gave their name to the Thaler and the dollar. After the Wieliczka Salt Mine ceased industrial exploitation in 2007, the Svornost mine (1525) became the oldest mine still in use in Europe. It was also the first (and for a long time the only) place in the world where radium was mined.