Žilínský mlýn

Žilínský mlýn is a historic water mill on the Kladenka stream in the village of Kladná Žilín, part of the Luhačovice municipality in the Zlín district of southeastern Moravia. It ranks among the smallest surviving roller mills in the Czech Republic and stands essentially unaltered since it was first built in the 18th century.

How old is the mill?

Dendrochronological analysis of the oak timber frame dates the construction to between 1720 and 1731. Local village records mention a "small mill" with modest output already standing near house number 10 in the early 18th century, likely the same building or its direct predecessor. Named owners across the centuries include Florián Hruboš (from 1806), Josef Kovařík (from 1828), Jan Martinec (1901-1915), and Alois Martinec (from 1930).

What does the mill complex include?

The site consists of a single-storey timber-framed cottage housing the living quarters and mill room, plus a separate single-storey smithy. Inside, visitors can find late-19th-century equipment: a roller mill unit with grooved rollers manufactured at Prince Salm's engineering works in Blansko, standing alongside an older, ordinary millstone setup. The mill also retains bucket elevators, a cleaning reel with sieves, and a trieur for separating weed seeds from grain. The whole technical arrangement survives without major structural changes, making it a rare, complete record of traditional milling craft.

How was the mill powered?

Water reached the wheel from a weir via a long inlet channel that widened near its end into a small holding reservoir. From there, a sluice gate directed the flow onto an overshot water wheel roughly 4.55 metres in diameter. After turning the machinery, the water returned to the Kladenka stream through an open drainage channel. The mill is classed among small-stream operations, with a typical flow of 50 to 1,000 litres per second.

Is it a protected monument?

Yes. Žilínský mlýn has been listed as an immovable cultural monument of the Czech Republic since 2008. For a period the building went without an owner willing to maintain it, but a renovation carried out after 2015 has kept the structures and their machinery in good condition.

Where is Kladná Žilín?

Kladná Žilín is part of the Luhačovice municipality, situated between the towns of Luhačovice and Bojkovice in southeastern Moravia. It formed from the merger of two originally separate settlements, Kladná (founded around 1376) and Žilín, whose shared seal dates to 1719. The area is known for its fruit-growing traditions, and the village survived a Tatar raid in 1663 as well as the Kuruc uprisings around the turn of the 18th century.

Frequently asked questions

Can you visit the mill inside? Access depends on the current arrangements of the property's owner — it's worth checking with the Luhačovice municipality or on site before visiting.

What's worth seeing at the mill? The main draw is the largely intact technical setup — the roller and millstone grinding units, elevators, and grain-cleaning machinery, much of it dating to the late 19th century.

How do you get to Kladná Žilín? The village lies along the road connecting Luhačovice and Bojkovice, within the Luhačovice municipality in the Zlín district.