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Throughout its five centuries, the mine and the city needed vast quantities of wood, and for that reason forestry was from time immemorial of substantial importance. The wood was used as pit wooden material, round timber, construction wood and fuel wood.
For that reason wooden water barriers were built as early as the 16th century. These constructions enabled sufficient water accumulation, independent of the whims of nature. Usually they waited fore extensive rainfall and the rise of the waters, yet the unstable territorial streams caused constant troubles. In the mid 16th century the first “GRABLJE” (RAKES) – oblique slanting wooden barriers stretching across the river, where the drifting wood was stopped – were located at Lenštat in the middle of Idrija, in direct proximity to the mine and overlooking the confluence of the Idrijca and Nikova rivers.
The river basin of the upper Idrijca river is rich with forests, which had been wisely managed in the past so that there was never a lack of timber. The forests, however, were located quite far away and were frequently fairly inaccessible, thus the natural waterways turned out to be the most appropriate means of transport. Drifting of wood started in the end of the 16th century and successfully lasted as long as 1926 when the catastrophic flooding severely damaged the wooden rakes in Idrija and in Spodnja Idrija.
Around the year 1770, new, monumental barriers made of brick and stone were built, to which in Napoleon’s days, in the year 1812, they also added a dam at Ovčjak in the valley of the Kanomljica river. Master Mrak used the reputed (whereby clay in added to the mortar), a veritable ‘natural’ concrete as the binding material of the monumental structure of the walls and vaulted openings. In order that the dam’s barriers could effectively withstand the water pressure and extreme water conditions, the gigantic doors of the klavže were opened by means of an ingeniously designed mechanism, whereas for their closure they used a pair of oxen.
Mrak’s klavže barriers on the Idrijca formed an almost 800-metre-long lake, wherein 210.000 m³ of water cold be accumulated. By means of this barriers, some 10.000 m3 of wood at the time could drift all the way to Idrija, which lies some 20 kilometres downstream. Every opening of klavže was reported to Idrija by fast running messengers. The capacities of the other klavže were distinctly smaller.
The drifting of wood to the “rakes” to the city was repeated each year, mostly in autumn, until 1926. In its history of wood drifting, the Idrijca carried on its waters a total of over 3,600.000 m3 of fuel wood and approximately 300.000 m3 of pit wood and round timber.At each klavže there was a klavžar, a man who was in charge of the construction and of the work around it. Usually the klavžar was the owner of the neighbouring farm. With their properties they were liable for any damage out of negligence. If the water swept klavže away because of the opened door during a storm, the money earned from selling klavžar’s farm would be used for building new ones. Being a klavžar was a well-paid job at the mine and the position was hereditary. If the sons of the deceased klavžar refused to continue their father’s position, it was offered to somebody else. Today there are no klavžars left, there are only the local names and klavže still there.
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Klavže - Slovenian Pyramids
Throughout its five centuries, the mine and the city needed vast quantities of wood, and for that reason forestry was from time immemorial of substantial importance. The wood was used as pit wooden material, round timber, construction wood and fuel wood.
For that reason wooden water barriers were built as early as the 16th century. These constructions enabled sufficient water accumulation, independent of the whims of nature. Usually they waited fore extensive rainfall and the rise of the waters, yet the unstable territorial streams caused constant troubles. In the mid 16th century the first “GRABLJE” (RAKES) – oblique slanting wooden barriers stretching across the river, where the drifting wood was stopped – were located at Lenštat in the middle of Idrija, in direct proximity to the mine and overlooking the confluence of the Idrijca and Nikova rivers.
The river basin of the upper Idrijca river is rich with forests, which had been wisely managed in the past so that there was never a lack of timber. The forests, however, were located quite far away and were frequently fairly inaccessible, thus the natural waterways turned out to be the most appropriate means of transport. Drifting of wood started in the end of the 16th century and successfully lasted as long as 1926 when the catastrophic flooding severely damaged the wooden rakes in Idrija and in Spodnja Idrija.
Around the year 1770, new, monumental barriers made of brick and stone were built, to which in Napoleon’s days, in the year 1812, they also added a dam at Ovčjak in the valley of the Kanomljica river. Master Mrak used the reputed (whereby clay in added to the mortar), a veritable ‘natural’ concrete as the binding material of the monumental structure of the walls and vaulted openings. In order that the dam’s barriers could effectively withstand the water pressure and extreme water conditions, the gigantic doors of the klavže were opened by means of an ingeniously designed mechanism, whereas for their closure they used a pair of oxen.
Mrak’s klavže barriers on the Idrijca formed an almost 800-metre-long lake, wherein 210.000 m³ of water cold be accumulated. By means of this barriers, some 10.000 m3 of wood at the time could drift all the way to Idrija, which lies some 20 kilometres downstream. Every opening of klavže was reported to Idrija by fast running messengers. The capacities of the other klavže were distinctly smaller.
The drifting of wood to the “rakes” to the city was repeated each year, mostly in autumn, until 1926. In its history of wood drifting, the Idrijca carried on its waters a total of over 3,600.000 m3 of fuel wood and approximately 300.000 m3 of pit wood and round timber.At each klavže there was a klavžar, a man who was in charge of the construction and of the work around it. Usually the klavžar was the owner of the neighbouring farm. With their properties they were liable for any damage out of negligence. If the water swept klavže away because of the opened door during a storm, the money earned from selling klavžar’s farm would be used for building new ones. Being a klavžar was a well-paid job at the mine and the position was hereditary. If the sons of the deceased klavžar refused to continue their father’s position, it was offered to somebody else. Today there are no klavžars left, there are only the local names and klavže still there.