The Jozef Shaft and the Mining Open-air Museum

The history of the mining town of Gelnica dates back to the 13th century, when the beginnings of mining in this area date back. Copper ore was mined the most here, followed by gold, silver, mercury, and others. The Mining

Museum brings the history of mining in Gelnica closer to the public with its exhibitions.
The town of Gelnica belongs territorially to the Spiš Region in eastern Slovakia. Gelnica is located in the Spiš-Gemer Ore Mountains, which offers both visitors and locals beautiful scenery of the mountain surroundings.

The extended exhibition of the Mining Museum, the Jozef Heritage Shaft, once opened up the south-eastern part of the Gelnica dike and served to drain the higher horizons. It was closed in the mid-19th century in connection with the decline of copper mining. It was reopened in the 1970s. The goal was to connect the shaft with the lower corridors on the Krížová dike with a ventilation chimney.

The mining open-air museum, as part of the museum's extended exhibition, consists of a Pochwerk mining machine and a smelting furnace. The historic mining machine (Pochwerk) will show you how copper ore was processed in the 17th century. The machine is powered by water from the nearby Turzov Lake. The smelting furnace, whose melting chamber is filled from above with the crushed dust fraction from Pochwerk, will bring you closer to the copper smelting itself. The performance of the furnace is controlled by a blower that drives a water wheel.

You may experience the view of the beautiful "Gelnica" environment from the unique Folkmar Rock located near the village of Veľký Folkmar.

Data taken from https://www.gelnica.sk/bansky-skanzen-a-stolna-jozef.html