Windmill Ostrov u Macochy

In the village we find a mill near the former limestone and if you visit here because of the Balcarka cave, you will see a windmill directly from the parking lot. As already mentioned, the mill was built sometime around 1865 and it was ground in it for a relatively short time, only until 1902. From 1932 onwards, the mill lacked squadrons, but it was already permanently inhabited at the time, so it was never abandoned. It is one of the most beautiful windmills in the whole Czech Republic.

It was originally built west of the village and became rather away from it, but later, as the village grew, it began to be absorbed by municipal buildings. From the outside, the mill has been preserved in almost its original form without major construction modifications. It is unplastered, built of white masonry of quarry limestone, which is completely unconventional for mills in our environment.

The mill has a precise cylindrical shape with a diameter of 9.38 m in all parts, both on the ground and under the roof. It is 11.95 meters high, of which the roof occupies 3.96 m. The beam structure of the roof has the shape of a pyramid and is currently covered with sheet metal, but in its original state it was shingled. The windmill has a diameter of almost 13 m and, unlike the original, is slightly shorter.

Inside the mill, the original grinding composition has been preserved on the third floor to this day. The diameter of the grinding stones is 1.3 m and their height is 30 and 45 cm. The second composition includes only one pulley. On the second floor we still find a preserved dessert and on the first floor we lived.

The windmill in Ostrov u Macochy is currently not open to the public. Its interior is adapted for recreational living and overall is the current owners, descendants of the last miller, nicely maintained.

Author: Andrea Štyndlová