Museum of Železniki

Železniki is a town with a population of about 7,000 situated in the valley of the Selška river 12 km west of Kranj. The most prominent feature of its town square is a perfectly preserved blast furnace, built in 1826, which ceased working in 1902. Alongside the furnaces is the town museum, founded in 1969 and accommodated in the Plavec House, which dates from the early 17th century. Its principal displays concern the iron industry which flourished in the area for six centuries. They show how ore was smelted, how pig iron was refined into wrought-iron and, above all, how smiths in the area shaped wrought iron into useful objects. When the industry was at its peak some 62 forges were working in the vicinity of Železniki. One of the principal exhibits is a large-scale model of a hammer forge. The museum also explains the relationship between the iron industry and the woodlands which line the valley sides, showing the making of charcoal, the operation of water-powered sawmills and the manufacture of the barrels in which the iron products of the area were taken to distant customers. Other displays are concerned with the making of roofing slates from quarries in the Selška valley, the making of bobbin lace which was the traditional occupation of women in the Železniki area, and other aspects of the history of the town.