Reduced Water Smithy in Medzev
The home of the reduced water smithy is a unique place breathing atmosphere - Ulička remesiel. It provides both tourists and locals, with space for extraordinary experiences, connected not just with traditional crafts. Even Rudolf Schuster (the former President of the Slovak Republic and a native of the town of Medzev) did not doubt the importance of this alley. He instigated the construction of the Medzev water smithy right at the Ulička Remesiel (Crafts Alley), specifically the one behind the blacksmith's workshop.
You may find the reduced water smithy in the first part of the Crafts Alley in the direction from the Calvinist Church to Vodná Ulica (Water Street).
The name of "reduced water smithy" arose because it is a faithful scaled-down copy of the sledgehammer located in Medzev, which is a living technical monument. The water wheel is the heart of a traditional blacksmith's workshop, i.e. the water smithy. It uses water power to run blacksmiths' hammers, blowers or bellows. Without them, no furnace would be hot enough to forging iron and working-out steel. Visitors will thus see with their own eyes the traditional way of creating blacksmith art and feel the radiant heat that completes this specific atmosphere.
In addition to the blacksmith's workshop, tourists may also visit (in Ulička Remesiel) a herbalist, a stonemason, a potter, and last but not least, a carver. Visiting the Mikluš Prison and the exhibition of the Eat Slovak Museum - Rodošto is also an interesting option.
