Slate roofing has been used since time immemorial for its characteristics and a novel design, however, nowadays it is more and more popular assurface suitable for facings, paving or various decorations. Natural stone is due to its resilience andcharacteristic fissility not only a functional material, but also a design element used both outdoors and indoors.

The ancient Romans were already aware of the solidity of the mineral andits ability to withstand climatic conditions and they made use of these characteristics while manufacturing the roofing. Slate started to be used on a larger scale in the Middle Ages for the construction of important buildings in Germany, France, England andItaly. Evenin the Czech lands slate was at that time used in constructions, however, the mining of roofing slate began in our country in the mid-18thcentury. The areas with the abundantreserves of this rock are located predominantly in Moravia, in the Moravian-Silesian Culm where mining is still in progress - with an exception during the period between the end of the World War II and the 1970s.

Slate, thanks to the developing technologies and new possibilities, gained an entirely new dimension; it does not serve only as roofing or outdoor cladding material, but also as a way of transforming surface of the interiors. The stone itself as a natural material is very popular for its natural look, it creates a lovely environment andit can be easily combined with other materials, such as glass, wood andmetal. Given the range of colors, slate may be harmonized withsurrounding furnishings to achieve a modern and harmoniceffect. It is an original "decoration" and it depends on you whether you use it to a large or small extent. You may face an entire wall of your living room or just highlight a certain part - for example, it might create a background for a television. Equally interesting is the possibility of facing the entire surface of a fireplace, from the floor to the ceiling, in combination with the flickering flame it creates a natural dominant feature of the whole room. Using slate to face bathrooms is also very popular, since the combination of modern furnishings andnatural stone creates a pleasant place for relaxing and cleansing your body andmind. Imagination has almost no limits, it depends on you if you want to stroll on the slate rocks, facing the stairs or the whole hall with them or perhaps combine certain elements.

Slate slabs are available in various colors, in cut or polished forms suitable for the interiors, in regular or irregular shapes, wider orthinner. Wider slabs are used for facing and paving constructions,the thinner for roofing of mainly historical buildings such as the National Theatre, Prague Castle or Tyn Church. Their roofs are protected by the roofing material made ​​from rocks mined in the Staré Oldřůvky slate mine, which is located in the already mentioned area ofthe Moravian-Silesian Culm. Inthe past, only 10-20% of the total volume of the mine was extracted, therefore the Česká břidlice company focused on the technologies that are able to make use of the whole repository; thanks to that the accumulated slate can be processed completely.

Today the latest technologies are used for roofing, but it is interesting that in the 1990s there was a company in Opava of which workers during installation manually hammered holes for the nails into the slabs; that was done for a functional reason. In case that the slab did not give out a characteristic ringing sound or splintered while tapping on it, it was not used, so this was considered as the last technical inspection.

Although slate is used as roofing mostly in historical buildings, for its resilience, color fastness and the fact that it is environmentally friendly, it is chosen by the owners of the brick and also wooden houses as the roofing material. In boththe interior and theexterior slate surface may be used at several places. It may cover the roof and also the walls or you may let the structureof the stone come to the fore at the floor of a terrace, also its use as a decor of garden furniture is interesting. It is also suitable as a material for creating rockeries or various decorative elementsinthe garden. Due to its timeless design is slate a suitable "partner" for other materials.

Slate processing in our country has a centuries-long tradition which proves the fact that the "golden Czech hands" are able to produce a Czech product of high quality that is worth keeping.