National Open-air Museum, Folk architecture museum in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, Czech Republic.
The National Open-air Museum is a state institution headquartered in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm that administers four open-air museums: Hanácké muzeum v přírodě, Muzeum v přírodě Vysočina, Muzeum v přírodě Zubrnice and Valašské muzeum v přírodě. Its collections include rural buildings, technical structures such as water hammers, mills, saws and drying kilns, and ethnographic objects.
The National Open-air Museum was established by a charter approved by the Czech Minister of Culture on 11 December 2018, under the museum development plan for 2015–2020. It is a contributory organisation of the Ministry of Culture, based in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, and it took over three earlier open-air collections from the National Heritage Institute: those at Příkazy, Vysočina and Zubrnice, joining the Valašské muzeum v přírodě.
The museum presents folklore of ethnographic regions: Haná, Horácko, Wallachia and part of Těšín Silesia, plus the České Středohoří landscape and northwest Bohemia. Special programmes feature folk art ensembles and demonstrations of craft production. Its four parts are the Haná, Vysočina, Zubrnice and Wallachian open-air museums.
The grounds are quite large and walking shoes are recommended for exploring the different areas and outdoor paths. Visitors should plan for adequate time since each section offers multiple buildings and details to discover.
The Water Mill Valley section displays functional water-powered machinery from Velké Karlovice, showing how technology was used in village craft operations. These machines remain operational today and demonstrate genuine industrial processes from the past.
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