top of page
Vedran Obućina

Agate - The Volcanic Treasure of Lepoglava

Lepoglava is located at the foot of the volcano! Admittedly, this is a fossil volcano Gaveznica, which was once known as a Stone Peak. It was a quarry there, and its remains form the hatch. For almost half a century, the Lepoglava prisoners removed the volcanic rock of the Hieper Andesit, very solid and suitable for road substrates. In the cracks of Andesit, a rock that originated here about twenty million years ago, a Ahat was found, a semi -downed stone that is one of Lepoglava symbols, which is otherwise known as a geologically an extremely interesting area on a world -class. It is named after the river in Sicily, and is special in its beautiful lines and geometric shapes.

The agate is by the chemical composition of the quartz - silicon dioxide. It is characterised by a special beauty that gives it the immense variety of curves and their colours, so people have given them different additional names as a lace agate. Agate creation has been a thousand years long process of deposition layer per layer of frames from mineral residues in the cavities of the rock. It is created directly from the lava, dripping silicic acid into cavities. Just a correspondent and a vowel shows us its full beauty.

Obviously, the volcanic remains also explored in prehistoric times because Gavenica is also an archeological site. At the very top of the former hill, the remains of the prehistoric settlement of the late Bronze Age were found. Perhaps those in this sixth geological monument of nature in Croatia were delighted with the agates, but we were certainly in wonder when Damir Vrtar opened the door to the Lepoglava Agate Association. And not just that! Gavenica is the only volcano in Croatia to manage to produce agate in sufficient quantities. Minerals work on the same frequency wave as humans, which means we should think about our relationship with minerals.

In addition to the agate, Gavenica also produced a lot of amethysts, declined, calculated and petrified wood, which is rarely found. The agate must be polished, cut and sanded so that wrapping can be emphasized. Lepoglava is also the only point in the world in which there are two completely unrelated areas of the agate: Gavenica and Čret. Agate is often used to make jewelry, like a ring, but there are fewer masters who are adept at grinding this semi -precious stone. The agate is a very hard stone so the processing is heavy. The most famous agate in the world is called the pumpkin owl, it is invaluable and surrounded by emeralds and diamonds. It looks reminiscent of an owl on the branch, which is a purely natural combination created in the darkness of volcanic rocks.

Lepoglava people are not afraid of volcanoes even though it is situated in the city centre. It last worked about thirteen million years ago as a volcanic chimney. There were a lot of smoke, but there were no explosions and large quantities of lava. There is a Lepoglava fault line, but the volcano will not wake up in the next few thousand years. Until then, we can admire these beautiful products of the geological past.


Udruga "Lepoglavski ahat". Trakošćanska 26, Lepoglava

Broj telefona: 098 1826 579

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page