The old town centre of Železniki is an urban and cultural monument. The oldest part of the town developed beside the Selška Sora river, squeezed into the narrow valley, which today comprises the Racovnik, Trnje and Na plavžu settlements. The settlement began to gain its current appearance in the 17th century when double-storey houses were built, though they were slightly transformed following devastating fires at the end of the 18th and start of the 19th centuries.
The ironworkers’ houses were brick-built houses with workshops and warehouses on the ground floor and the living area on the first floor.
Palnada is the oldest house in Železniki. The name is reminiscent of Palmanova, the Italian town from where the first ironworkers came in the mid-14th century. Palnada is an impressive brick-built building with a corner tower with a fresco of a lion and bear and with typical elements of ironworkers’ architecture; wrought iron shutters, meshes on the windows, a stone staircase, arched ceilings inside and a tiled roof.
