Rudný důl Mine

Welcome, distinguished visitors, to Upper Town. You have just arrived at a place that may appear at first glance, but beneath your feet and in the surrounding landscape is a fascinating story from the depths of the earth. You're standing outside the Red Mine, which is an extremely valuable archaeological site. Stop for a moment, take a breath and try to feel the atmosphere of this place. Even though you do not see monumental buildings, tall towers or decorated facades here today, this quiet landscape is a witness of hard work and human adhesion from a time when mining was a fundamental pillar of the development of our countries.

So let's go back to the 12th century together in time. Imagine this area almost a thousand years ago. That's when the first mining activity started. At the time, mining wasn't the kind of thing we know today. It was a risky road to wealth, to find precious metals and ore that could change the fate of whole villages and cities. Rudný důl has become one of the oldest places in the whole of Rýmařovska, where the remains of this activity have been preserved until now. People worked here from the twelfth to sixteenth century, which means this place has been active for many generations. Imagine the first people here, with simple tools in their hands, to explore the soil and look for the most valuable in it.

Now pay attention to what surrounds you. Because it's archaeological sites, we're not going to look for beautiful halls, but we're going to focus on footprints in the field and the very essence of this place. Notice the surroundings and perceive the space in which you move. This is where the remains are, which tell us how they were conquered in ancient times. The key moment for understanding the importance of this place is year one thousand three hundred forty-eight. It is this year that a written record comes from which is extremely important to us. This document mentions three different stages of conquest and for the first time in our records in this area it talks about a vertical shaft.

Stop at this thought. At the time, the vertical shaft was not just an ordinary hole in the ground. It represented technological progress, a break in how people approached mining. Instead of just digging in the ground or digging slightly inclined corridors, they dared to dig deep down, perpendicular to the core of the earth. This required courage, better planning and knowledge of materials that could sustain such construction. That is why Rudný důl is considered a historic milestone for mining throughout our territory. It is a place where the transition to more modern mining methods is documented, which in turn affected the entire area of Rýmarovska and the surroundings of the Silver Mountains.

When we think about this place, you might wonder who's been working here. Who were those people who spent long hours here in darkness and humidity? Unfortunately, the names of the particular architects who designed the shafts, or the names of the miners who worked here, were not preserved in historical sources. They're the unknown heroes of history. But it is this ignorance that gives the place some charm. Imagine the thousands of unknown hands returning dirt and ore to the surface. Imagine their hope when they found a rich vein, and their disappointment when the work proved futile. Although we don't know their names, their tracks are the very findings that archaeologists raised to the surface in the year one thousand nine hundred eighty-three. These findings from the 1980s confirmed that Rudný důl is not only a legend, but a real, tangible proof of the mining tradition.

Notice also how important it is that we protect this place today. In the year one thousand nine hundred fifty-eight, Rudný důl was officially declared a cultural monument. This means that the state recognized that even if there are no large palaces, this location is as valuable as the largest cathedrals. It is a monument to human effort, technical sense and the relationship of man to nature. By being protected, we can still today, hundreds of years later, stand in the same place as those medieval miners and think about how the world changed.

Now I want to impress you with one interesting thing that makes this place a real mystery. Imagine that Rudný důl is one of the oldest conservation sites of its kind throughout the region. It's almost a miracle that we managed to keep track of the 12th century. Most of these places have been levelled over the centuries, built up or forgotten. Here, however, the country has kept its secret. The mystery remains, how many more shafts and corridors are still hidden deep beneath the surface, where the human foot has long since gone and where perhaps still sleeps instruments from the Middle Ages. Every stone and every section of the terrain here can be the key to a new understanding of how our ancestors lived and worked.

Now, when you look around, you realize you're standing in a place that connects the 12th century to today. It's a bridge between the time of the ridges and the swords and the time of digital technology. Rudný důl reminds us that the country's wealth lies not only in the metals that we extract from it, but above all in the memory that we retain about this process. This site provides valuable information about the history of mining in the Czech Republic and teaches us humility before nature and before the work of the people who came before us.

Let us now slowly end this part of our journey. I hope you could imagine the noise of the hammers, dust and tension that existed here at the time of the bloom. Rudný důl is silent today, but for anyone who can listen, it tells a story about courage, discovery and tireless work.

We now invite you to further explore the area. Walk slowly through the space around the site, perceive the silence of the landscape and perhaps you can see in your mind those vertical shafts that once reached deep into the perplexing of the earth. Remember, history is not only in books, but it is present here, in every grain of dust and in every piece of rock.

Thank you for spending time with us at the Red Mine. We wish you a pleasant rest of your stay in Upper Town and in the whole of Rýmařovska. Let the beauty of our country and its hidden treasures inspire you further. Goodbye.