Bergstadens Ziir — The Smelting Works

The Smelting Works (Smeltehytta) in the town centre is the most dramatic building in Røros. The great stone smelting hall dates from 1646, rebuilt after a fire in 1975 and restored to working condition for museum purposes. The copper ore extracted from the surrounding mines was processed here; the heat and noise of the operation dominated the town for over three centuries.

The museum inside — Bergstadens Ziir, "the jewel of the mining town" — tells the story of the copper industry from ore to finished metal. The displays cover the social history of the mining community as well as the industrial process, and the building itself is the main exhibit: the scale of the smelting hall, the surviving furnaces, and the accumulated grime of centuries of production are more eloquent than any caption. This is the core of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and should not be missed.

Opening hours vary by season; combined tickets covering the smelting works and the mine at Olavsgruva are available and represent good value if you plan to visit both.

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A story
When the Røros smelting works closed in 1953, workers simply walked out and left everything in place. The machinery, the tools, the half-finished ledgers — all remained untouched for decades. When the building was finally opened as a museum, it was essentially intact: a rare case of industrial heritage preserved by neglect rather than by deliberate conservation effort.