Lorenzo’s smelter

The stone tower by the road between Vrbno pod Pradědem and Rejvíz is not a natural formation, but an old blast furnace. It was used for the production of pig iron at the beginning of the 19th century.

At that time, there were many similar furnaces in the area where iron was smelted and ‘hamry’ (hammers or hammer mills) where the raw material was refined. The furnace near Drakov is the last one to survive. It is an important technical monument that commemorates the mining and processing of iron ore.