Velenje Museum has several museum units in the area of the Šalek Valley. One of them is the House of Minerals in Old Velenje, which has been managed by the museum since 2011. Visitors to the House of Minerals can see the rich collection of minerals from Slovenia and around the world, assembled by private collector Jože Rihtar. The peculiarity of the collection is surely the unique piece of amber that was found in the Velenje Coal Mine in 2008.

The House of Minerals is a geological collection of the world’s minerals and an extensive collection of Slovenian minerals. Today, the House of Minerals displays more than 12,000 different minerals from the private collection of collector and expert Jože Rihtar. The collection is constantly being added to – it has grown from the original 2,000 pieces on display. The owner of the collection, Jože Rihtar, has extensive knowledge and experience of mining, having spent his career as a miner at the Velenje coal mine. He often goes on excursions to various quarries and abandoned mines, attends trade fairs and actively cooperates with other collectors at home and abroad. As a result of his hobby, a unique collection of minerals from all over the world has grown over the last 40 years.
In addition to the rich collection of minerals, the exhibition also features a geological collection of precious, semi-precious and ornamental stones, which seduce the visitor into a very special world of colours, shapes and energies.

The building itself, which houses the House of Minerals, is also remarkable. The building, which has a rich facade in the Neo-Historic style and a staircase with a beautifully decorated cast-iron balustrade inside, is a listed building. It dates from the second half of the 19th century, and it is said that in the 16th century there was a chaplain’s house on the site where the first school in Velenje was founded in 1574. Since the second half of the 19th century, the building has served as a residential and commercial building, housing families, municipal offices, the gendarmerie and finally the police. Today, in addition to the House of Minerals, the building at Stari trg 19 is the seat of the Staro Velenje Municipality.