TOURS OF THE GLASS BEAD ORNAMENT MANUFACTURING FACILITY

The village of Poniklá is the only place in the world where the traditional craft of glass bead hand-manufacturing has been preserved. The first glass bead blowing workshops were established in Poniklá in the late 19th century. Often, glass bead blowing was the livelihood of entire families. The process of blowing and decorating ornaments has changed very little since then. At Rautis, you can see the entire manufacturing process: how beads are blown through glass tubes, then silver coated, coloured and cut, and finally assembled into ornaments. The entire manufacturing process is done by hand. During the tour you will learn how each bead is worked on by at least six pair of hands before it becomes part of an ornament.