Malenovice: A Village with a History of Ore Extraction The picturesque village of Malenovice is situated at the base of Lysá hora. Thousands of hikers, skiers, and cyclists pass it on their way to the highest peak of the MoravianSilesian Beskyds. Malenovice is certainly worth seeing and sticking around for long enough to take in its charm and beauty. There is quite a lot that makes this village near Frýdlant nad Ostravicí a place of interest, tangled in mysteries. One of the legends is the mining history of the place. Malenovice belongs to numerous mountain villages where iron ore used to be extracted. 17th-century documents prove that the iron ore from Malenovice was processed in Staré Hamry nearby, and the greatest demand came in the early 1800s, with orders from the ironworks in Baška. The ore containing 20-30% of iron was found in the valley of the Satina river. The river whose waterfalls at the upper end of Malenovice are considered one of the most romantic locations in the Beskid mountains. Jobs in the ore extraction were far from current romantic walks by the river. The shafts were dug deep in the river banks, the longest 300 metres. In some points the miners dag vertical shafts, some of them about 10 metres deep. Where the ore deposits were extremely rich in iron, they went even 30 metres deep.

methane. They sent a man down the underground system with a five- to six-metre-long stick with a burning bunch of straw attached at the end. The miner went crawling, sheltering his head with a kind of bathtub. When the torch at the long stick reached the area the methane was emerging from, the gas exploded, flames blew past the miner and the shaft was ready for safe extraction again. Documents show that 150 years ago, Malenovice had as many as 50 miners. Gradually, the demand for local ore decreased, Lískovec and Ostrava started more progressive ironworks which requested larger and faster supplies. Extraction in Malenovice became inefficient. Another significant place worth visiting and staying at for a while when in Malenovice is the church on Borová peak. It is an astonishing dominant feature in the landscape which offers marvellous views of the Beskyd Mountains.

The work itself was very dangerous and many miners never returned home. The legendary talents of miners from Malenovice included a unique way to clear the shafts off dangerous

Text a foto: Mgr. Petr Žižka

Text a foto: Petr Žižka

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