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Between 1529 and 1533, shortly after the founding of Jáchymov, three new important mining towns sprang up almost simultaneously in the upper reaches of the Erzgebirge: Abertamy (Abertham), Boží Dar (Gottesgab) and Horní Blatná (Bergstadt Platten). This was prompted by the rich discoveries of silver, tin and iron ores in the vicinity. Abertamy and its neighbouring mining settlement Hřebečná (Hengstererben) were built on Bohemian territory. Horní Blatná and Boží Dar, on the other hand, were established by Saxon Elector Johann Friedrich on previously undeveloped land and only incorporated into the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1546.

Horní Blatná is one the most striking examples of Renaissance-style planned mining towns in the Erzgebirge. Like Marienberg, its distinctive features are a central, almost square marketplace, dominated by the Church of St. Lawrence, and a system of roads running perpendicular to each other.

The ore districts of Horní Blatná, Hřebečná and Bludná (Irrgang) bear witness to 400 years of tin ore mining. Overground, a series of notable objects are preserved, including the Wolfspinge and Eispinge sinkholes on the Plattenberg, the sinkhole of the Susanna mine in Bludná, and the sinkhole of the Roter Grube mine in Hřebečná, which measures over 230 metres and is one of the largest of its kind in the world.

The underground area near the Mauritius mine in Hřebečná is hugely significant in terms of mining history, since it preserves authentic evidence of the various mining processes of tin ores from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

A unique feature of the mining landscape is the collection of tin placer heaps near Boží Dar, which highlight huge-scale cassiterite extraction through placer work in the upper reaches of the Erzgebirge. Bordering this site, the manmade ditch Blatenský příkop is one of the most important mining water supply systems in the Czech Erzgebirge.