Technical monuments

Kołaczew Water Mill in Złoty Potok

On the upper course of the Wiercica river, where it flows out of Zielony Staw (Green Pond), stands the wooden Kołaczew mill of 1807 – the last of six water mills that once worked on the river near Złoty Potok. The building lies within the „Parkowe" nature reserve, in the Eagles' Nests Landscape Park.

History reaching back to the 15th century

The first written mention of the mill comes from 1473, when its miller was Piotr Palis and its owner the knight Piotr Potocki of the Szreniawa coat of arms. The present building was erected in 1807, and on the map of the Kingdom of Poland of 1839 it already appears under the name Kołaczew. After a fire it was rebuilt in 1928. After World War II it was nationalized and run by the Municipal Production Cooperative, and in the 1950s the water wheel was removed and replaced with an electric drive. Today the mill is privately owned and does not work; a Pelton turbine has been preserved.

A name from the clatter

The name Kołaczew comes from the characteristic clatter made by the working wheel; according to another interpretation it recalls the wheel that served the good of all the residents.

The mill stands by voivodeship road no. 793, about 1.5 kilometres south-west of the centre of Złoty Potok. The building lies on the Wooden Architecture Trail, and nearby are marked paths of the Parkowe reserve leading along the Wiercica, the river's springs and the ponds.