View source for Flood Dams, Klavže

{{Article
| status       = 
| maintainer   = Ivan Pirnat
}}
{{Infobox
| name                = Flood Dams, Klavže
| localname           = Klavže
| street              = Prelovčeva 9
| town                = SI-5280 Idrija
| telephone           = 386 (0) 5 372 6600
| fax                 = 386 (0) 5 377 3580
| email               = tajnistvo@muzej-idrija-cerkno.si
| website             = http://www.muzej-idrija-cerkno.si
| managed by          = Idrija Municipal Museum
| contacts = {{Contact
| name                = 
| role                = 
| email               = 
}}
| accounts            =

}}

{{Teaser|   
Five hundred years of mining in the [[:Category:Mercury mining heritage|Idrija Mercury Mine]] required vast quantities of timber for the mine's architecture, supporting pillars, machines, smelting ore, as well as supplying the inhabitants of [[Municipality of Idrija|Idrija]], a town which lies in a hilly region surrounded by vast forests. Nearby forests had been cut early, so the most practical way was to transport timber on waterways from forests far away. [[Flood Dams, Klavže|Flood dams, called ''klavže'']]  were made on the rivers Zala, Belca, Idrijca, and Kanomljica for timber transport all the way to the town of Idrija. 

''Klavže'' were made to dam lakes: timber was piled in the river and when the gates were opened the released accumulated water drove the timber downstream to Idrija on river rakes. On the Idrijca River the timber was caught and retrieved from the water for further use. Because of their huge stone structures and technical ingenuity ''klavže'' are also praised as the Slovene pyramids. Some of them were restored and are well worth a visit.
}}

==Origin of the word==
''Klavže'' is a plural noun meaning "gates". It derives from the Latin ''clausura'' ("the closing"). The Slovenian term, however, was borrowed from the German ''die Klause'' which also means "the pass". In any case, the term denotes something that has not been permanently closed but is of a transient nature. The main characteristic of ''klavže'' is namely the closing and opening mechanism for the regulation of the water accumulation. The name of the [[Kluže Fortress|war fortress Kluže]] near Bovec has the same origin. 

==History==
The first ''klavže'' were built out of wood in the 16th century on the Zala River, but were too dependent on rainfall and high waters. Around [[established::1770]] the monumental ''klavže'' were built out of brick, stone and mortar, with the ingenuously designed mechanisms that required only a pair of oxen to lift or close the dam barriers, also in extreme weather conditions. The most grandiose ''klavže'' were those of a local, [[Jožef Mrak|Master Mrak]] (1709&ndash;1786), positioned where the river Idrijca formed an 800-metre-long lake that could drive some 10,000 m3 of timber at a time downstream to Idrija, 20km away. 

It has been calculated that the river Idrijca carried approximately 4,540,000 m3 of fuel wood and 375,000 m3 of pit wood and round timber. The transportation of timber via rivers ended in 1926, after catastrophic floods took away the rakes in Lenštat in the centre of Idrija. Being a ''klavžar'' ("dam operator") was a very responsible, but also highly valued, position among the people.

{{YouTube|S14B9FP4ncs}}
Brusove ''klavže'' on Belca River

==Visit==
The ''klavže'' attracted an audience already in the time when they were active. The opening of a dam and the noisy transportation of timber was an impressive performance of engineering ingenuity. The models of ''klavže'' and Lenštat rakes made by [[Janko Trošt]] aptly explain the whole process and can be seen in the [[Idrija Municipal Museum]]. The visit to one of the preserved sites remains, however, a unique experience. 

For a few decades the abandoned ''klavže'' were decaying and became hardly accessible due to the lack of road maintenance. In 1968 the [[Municipality of Idrija]] proclaimed them as a first class technical monument and from 2001 onwards the following ''klavže'' have been protected as a cultural monument on a state level: Belčne ''klavže'' (also called Brusove ''klavže''), Putrihove ''klavže'' (both close to Idrijska Bela) &ndash; built from 1767 till 1769 according to the plans by [[Jožef Mrak]], Idrijske ''klavže'' (Vojsko), and Kanomeljske ''klavže'' (Gorenja Kanomlja, called also Ovčjak ''klavže''), built in 1813 and considered the most beautiful.

== See also ==
* [[:Category:Mercury mining heritage|Mercury mining heritage on Culture.si]]
* [[Idrija Municipal Museum]]
* [[Idrija Mine Museum]] 
* [[Miner's House - Ethnological Collection]]
* [[Idrija Kamšt]]
* [[Cerkno Museum]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.dedi.si/dediscina/385-klavze-na-idrijci Klavže on Idrijca in the Dedi.si database]
*[http://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C5%BEef_Mrak Jožef Mrak on Wikipedija] (in Slovenian)
* [http://www.idrija.com/zalozba/051-mrak.htm A richly illustrated book on the Master Jožef Mrak (1709&ndash;1786) by Janez Kavčič] (in Slovenian)
* [http://www.geopark-idrija.si/en/ Idrija Geopark website]


[[Category:Museums]]
[[Category:Monuments and sites]]
[[Category:Industrial and technical heritage]]
[[Category:Mercury mining heritage]]