It is located about 3 km (2 mi) north of the Lake Võrtsjärv.

It was founded in 1792–1795 by Carl Philip Amelung[2] and his father Anton Amelung who, fearing the French Revolution, escaped from the Grünenplan mirror factory in Braunschweig, Germany and travelled to Estonia.

[citation needed] Among the owners of the factory, there were the von Bocks who were closely related with the Russian czar court.

Allegedly one of the von Bocks was the illegitimate son of Russian czar Peter I.

[citation needed] Meleski glass factory was the biggest in the Baltic states during the 19th century, and only the Rjazan glass factory competed with Meleski for the title of the biggest glass factory in the Russian Empire.