Do you know where is the Central European rarity – a three-storey water mill in Jelka. Slovakia.
Water mill in Jelka
Getting out into nature always appeals to me on days when I don’t have to do chores. And so it was on a sunny summer day. We drove by car from the main road along a dusty dirt road to a parking lot. In front of a place that offers you a glimpse of a Central European rarity.
We walked past a wooden fence and through an entrance gate to a smiling gentleman at the ticket office, who sold us tickets to visit a remarkable technical monument in southwestern Slovakia – the Jelka Water Wheel Mill ( Németh’s Mill, as its miller was József Németh).
History of the mill
The oldest document about this mill dates back to 1894. Originally it was a ship mill, and in 1900 they converted it into a wheel mill. The building was reconstructed in 1992 thanks to the efforts of the Homeland Museum in Galanta and the Municipal Office in Jelka. It is a three-storey wooden mill you cannot find in the surrounding states.
Just a few steps, and we are already on the wooden footbridge in front of the entrance to the mill. The somewhat noisy clatter of machinery in a regular rhythm is a beautiful backdrop.
We take a look around the three-story Jelka Wheel Mill. We walked the floors and passed many artefacts related to the mill.
Mill interior
The dominant part of the mill consists of a wooden mill, which lies on 54 piles of acacia wood driven into the river bed. It has a gabled roof of rafter, gambrel construction, covered with shingles. The mill includes a trough for lowering sacks, a lift superstructure, and a sill chamber.
Next, we come to the wooden terrace of the mill over the river, where this picturesque setting offers us a view of the slow-moving river set in beautiful scenery. We watch with interest as the mill’s massive wooden wheel (now powered by an electric motor) spins, banging its blades noisily against the water’s surface.
We also see the equipped neighbouring campground with refreshments, camping, and sports facilities on the riverbank. For water hikers in the meandering river bed, we are visiting beautiful still life scenes while water hiking is essential to this magical place.
Open-air museum Jelka
We leave the mill building and enter a small open-air museum focused on the village’s agricultural past. In their original beauty, we discover many agricultural machines, carts and tools that were used about 100 years ago.
I was intrigued by the larder in the form of a wicker hanging box and the historic corn picker.
Malý Dunaj
At the end of our trip along the Danube, after a wonderful time exploring Slovakia’s past. We settle down in a local restaurant to enjoy the cuisine’s specialities with the inseparable beer. Visiting such places in the summer heat is the best choice for all ages, if you want to learn Slovakia’s originality.
3-storey round mill in Slovakia: Jelka. Cycling enthusiasts and boaters can easily find their way to this place. For those of us who are quickly running out of strength in this heat, a car will help us get to an interesting place with a pinch of history in the lap of the beautiful nature of Southern Slovakia. 🙂
