2020

With the Furnace Burning Hot, Cones are Now Ready to be Dried at LVM Vijciems Cone Drying Facility

This is a busy time at Vijciems Cone Drying Facility: the furnace is burning hot, the chimney is smouldering, cones have been brought in and are now waiting for their turn to dry. As of 3 February, anyone interested is welcome to explore the historic cone drying facility in action - to watch cones crackling and popping open in drying cylinders and giving away their seeds.

Drying will take place until 15 March. Please arrange your visit to the historic building in advance by contacting Ivars Palejs, manager of the drying facility (tel. 26478620).

LVM Cone Drying Facility in Vijciems is among the oldest in Latvia, whereas on the background of other such facilities in the world, it stands out with its original drying equipment, which is almost 100 years old and still proudly performs its functions.

Cone drying is a time-consuming and exciting process that starts with cones being delivered to the third floor of the facility. They are then measured with a special, almost 100-year-old machine and poured into rolls made of metal bars. For an entire week, the heavy rolls are rotated 4-8 times a day; the drying temperature is checked on a regular basis to ensure that it does not exceed 48 degrees. The seeds are then cleaned of any cone impurities, moistened and scrubbed vigorously to remove winged seeds. Afterwards, they are dried once again until we obtain perfectly pure and fine seeds.

  Open gallery 

The historical Vijciems Cone Drying Facility

Owing to its ancient facilities, Vijciems Cone Drying Facility was included in the List of European Cultural Heritage in 2002, whereas in 2008 it was awarded the status of Unusual European Cultural Heritage. As of 2019, the cone drying facility has been included in the List of State Protected Cultural Monuments.