Elena Beňušová
In the past, blacksmithing was an important craft in the Orava region. In traditional blacksmithing production, the most worked metal was iron. For this reason, a certain specialisation was required of blacksmiths, and so only guild blacksmiths in towns had permission to make new products. Village blacksmiths were thus left only with inferior work, mainly concerning the repairs of iron tools. But blacksmiths, closely associated with the village environment, which in turn was linked to agriculture, produced and repaired in large quantities agricultural tools, forgings and ironwork for means of transport used by farmers, and in particular by carriers and cloth-makers from Upper Orava, as well as craftsmen’s tools. They especially shoed draught animals: horses and cattle. The blacksmith Vladimír Janiga, originally from Párnica, put into practice the theoretical and practical knowledge which he gained from his father, and gave the blacksmithing craft a new dimension with his own artistic contribution.