Former name shaft of KWK Paryż, a closed Zagłębie Dąbrowskie coal mine; no surface structures are known to survive.
Szyb Paryż was the principal named winding shaft of Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Paryż, a hard coal mine located primarily in Dąbrowa Górnicza at the border with Będzin, in the Zagłębie Dąbrowskie coalfield. The shaft entered service in 1884 and gave the entire mine its name. The mine had its roots in the early 1780s and developed through a series of mergers, coming under French-Italian capital in 1876 and passing through several ownership changes over the following century.
Under communist administration from 1945, the mine was renamed KWK Generał Zawadzki; the original name was restored in 1989. The mine was placed into liquidation in September 1993, coal extraction ended on 30 June 1995, and underground workings were finally liquidated on 31 December 1996. No headframe or other significant surface structure belonging to Szyb Paryż is reported as surviving.
The earliest coal extraction on the territory of what would become KWK Paryż dates to 1783, when opencast working began on the outcrops of seam 510 in the area of the former mine Reden. In the second half of the nineteenth century, several small underground mines operated in the area, including Flora, Mars, Antoni, Albert, Jan, and Victoria.
The direct predecessor enterprises were kopalnia Łabęcki, established in 1865, and kopalnia Nowa, founded in 1867. Both were acquired in 1876 by Russian officers Plemiannikow and Riesenkampf acting as front purchasers, and were immediately leased to the Towarzystwo Francusko-Włoskie Dąbrowskich Kopalń Węgla (the French-Italian Society of Dąbrowa Coal Mines). The combined operation traded under the name Nowa-Łabęcki. In 1877 new steam machinery of 390 horsepower was installed; output capacity was further expanded in 1878. In 1880 the old Łabęcki open working was closed. In 1884 Szyb Paryż was sunk and brought into service, giving the mine the name by which it is principally known. A further shaft, Chaper (later renamed Cieszkowski), was also sunk in the same period, with sinking completed by 1884. By approximately 1891 the mine formally passed to the Towarzystwo Franko-Rosyjskie.
On 7 August 1894 a serious fire broke out during repairs to Szyb Paryż, destroying the winding engine house, boiler house, and winding machinery, and spreading underground through Szyb Chaper. The pumping equipment was also destroyed, causing partial flooding of the mine. Production was nonetheless resumed, probably on 1 July 1895. In 1899 the mine Koszelew was incorporated into the enterprise.
During the First World War and the inter-war period the mine grew substantially, at peak employing 6,204 persons in 1961. In 1922 a proposal was made to establish a geological reserve at the outcrops of the Reden coal seam, an early attempt at industrial heritage protection. In 1928 construction began of a workers' housing estate at Pogoria for mine employees, comprising 17 multi-family brick houses completed in 1932. In 1942 the mine was taken over by the German concern Preussag.
Following the end of the Second World War the mine was nationalised and incorporated into the Dąbrowskie Zjednoczenie Przemysłu Węglowego. On 21 October 1945 it was renamed KWK Generał Zawadzki, in honour of Aleksander Zawadzki, a former mine worker who became voivode of the Silesian-Dąbrowa region. Three smaller mines — Flora, Reden, and later Mars — were consolidated into the operation. In the 1950s shallow seams were worked by inclined drifts designated Będzin I and II. In 1960 a ventilation and stowage shaft, Małobądz, was sunk. In 1961 exploitation of the Mars section ended.
In 1969 a major mining disaster occurred at the mine on 24 July, involving flooding. The Łabęcki shaft was also liquidated in 1969. The 1970s brought comprehensive modernisation: rope haulage and rail haulage systems were introduced underground, and the mine commissioned the first fully mechanised longwall face with a hydraulic sand stowage system in Polish coal mining. In 1971–72 Szyb Cieszkowski was deepened and received a new strut-type headframe and winding engine house. A new coal preparation plant replaced the 1933 facility, and a new mine surface terminal was built. In 1974 a new production level at 390 metres was brought into service, served by Szyb Andrzej, which had been sunk in 1966–71.
The original name KWK Paryż was restored in 1989 following the end of communist administration. On 19 August 1993 the Minister of Industry and Trade issued a decree announcing closure of the mine. KWK Paryż was formally placed into liquidation on 1 September 1993. The last tonne of coal was extracted on 30 June 1995. Final liquidation of underground workings was completed on 31 December 1996. In 1994 a coal processing subsidiary, Zakład Przeróbki Mechanicznej Węgla Dąbrowa sp. z o.o., was established on the former mine surface, using the remaining preparation facilities; from this entity a recycling company, Carbo-Proces Recykling sp. z o.o., was separated in 2008. All nine shafts of the former mine were filled, with the exception of Szyb Cieszkowski, which was retained to house pumps for the ongoing dewatering of workings serving still-active mines in the region. No headframe or significant mining structure from Szyb Paryż itself is recorded as surviving.