Ostrava Hradčany and black coal mining

Lower Vítkovice area is an absolutely rare, both technically and technologically flawless complex of industrial buildings from the first half of the 19th century. In autumn 2002, it was proclaimed National Cultural Monument, and thanks to its significance aspires also for an inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List. A former industrial area of the lower Vítkovice got among monuments recorded in newly arising list of European Cultural Heritage. An exceptionality of the industrial area lies in the fact, that in a single complex there was the whole technological process taking place, starting with a black coal mining and its coke preparation to the final product, a pig iron. The production had been in operation nonstop since 1830 till the shutdown in 1998. Nowadays the operations are opened for visitors as an industrial open-air museum.