Středověká úpravna zlatých rud Archaeological site

Welcome to Kašperské Hora. You have just stopped at a place that at first sight can act as a simple part of the Shimaan landscape, but in fact you are standing directly above the treasure of history. If you look around now, you will see the remains that tell us the story of human workmanship, the search for precious metal and the technologies that were absolutely exceptional at the time of their creation. Don't expect tall walls or monumental buildings to dominate the horizon. What you see are the foundations, clues in the land, and archaeological findings that allow us to reconstruct people's lives and work centuries ago. Feel this atmosphere, feel the calm of this place, because this is where the constant drama of mining and processing of precious metal once took place.

Let us now return together in time, deep into the Middle Ages. In order to understand why this place was created, we need to look at the Šumava mountains around a thousand and two hundred. At that time, there was a huge boom in deep gold mining. The people of the time learned to reach deeper into the earth, to look for veins that bore the promise of wealth. It was during this period, at the turn of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, that this unique theatre was created here in Kašerské Hora. It wasn't just an ordinary mine. It was a place where the gold was prepared for further use. Imagine the era when the schmaumava became the center of major economic events. This plant was built to make something really valuable come from the crude material that was extracted by the miners.

Now pay attention to what's right in front of you. Even though there are now only the foundations of the complex, try to imagine what happened here. This place was not intended for housing, but for very specific and demanding work. The main task of this construction was the heat treatment of the golden quartz. This is the point that makes this site absolutely extraordinary. Notice the layout of these bases. This is probably where the structure of the stone was changed using high temperatures to make it easier to release gold. It's a fascinating idea - there was a fire in this place, there was smoke floating and there was pounding and there was noise of work. According to all the knowledge, this is the first known place in the whole Czech countries, where it was such a heat treatment plant. That means you're standing in a place that represented the technological peak of your time on our territory. This object has been fully operational for approximately 150 years, which is the time that has left a deep mark in the ground.

When we look at the history of this place, we can't forget the people who decided the fate of the entire region. In the 14th century, when gold mining in Šumava reached its peak, powerful rulers ruled here. One of the most important men of the time was Jan Lucemburský. He, around the year thousands of three hundred ten to thousands of three hundred forty-six, granted the city of Kašperské Hory very important rights, such as tax exemptions. These privileges have helped the city grow and strengthened its position thanks to the wealth that mining has brought. In this context, the city has become an important centre that has been linked to powerful family lines, such as Luxembourg. Even later, during the reign of Charles the fourth, this area was still significant. The whole area was linked to the great political and economic processes that were taking place in the whole kingdom at the time.

Perhaps you are now being told how this history has returned to us. Imagine the astonishment of the moment when this place was rediscovered in the 1990s, which is so close to us. In their search in the country, the archaeologists came across these foundations, and today we are able to talk about this place at all. It was like waking up a sleeping giant who kept quiet for hundreds of years. It is thanks to this discovery that this site was recognised as a cultural monument and became protected from losing its secrets. What you see today is the result of a long process of discovering and protecting the past.

But there is one thing that can take on even the greatest lovers of history. It's just the uniqueness of this place. Think about how precise the technology at the time must have been. It requires knowledge of materials, knowledge of fire, and the ability to control temperature so that the stone cannot be destroyed, but at the same time to make the most valuable of it. It's a fascinating mystery how people were able to achieve such a result in a time without modern instruments. This hotel was the first of its kind in all Czech countries. You're standing in a place that was at the time a peak, a tech center that defined the way that gold was handled.

Now, I'd like to ask you to continue your search of this archaeological site. Let yourself be carried away by the atmosphere of this place and try to imagine in your mind the miners, the fires and the constant effort to get the precious metal. Every stone and every clue in the country here has its meaning. Thank you for coming to learn more about this special place in Kašerské Hora. Please read more information if available and enjoy the rest of your wandering around this historic landscape. Goodbye.