Slovakia's UNESCO Heritage Sites

Majestic Castles and Historic Towns

24 Apr 2015 | From Zuzana of Slovakia

THANK-YOU POSTCARD

Despite its rather small size, Slovakia offers great diversity of landscapes, untouched nature, numerous magical castles, charming historic towns - many of which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Shown in the postcard are Levoča, Bardejov, Žehra, Vlkolínec, Spišská Kapitula, Lukov-Venécia, Banská Štiavnica, and Kežmarok.

Levoča  is a town in the Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia. The town has a historic center with a well preserved town wall, a Renaissance church with the highest wooden altar in the world, carved by Master Paul of Levoča, and many other Renaissance buildings. Another Slovak town inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List is the historic Bardejov, one of the oldest Slovak towns. Bardejov is spoken of as the “most Gothic of towns in Slovakia”. Its centre consists of a set of historical buildings arranged in the area limited by an almost continuous belt of town fortifications.

Žehra is a village and municipality in the Spišská Nová Ves District in the Košice Region of central-eastern Slovakia. The Žehra Church  was declared a Czechoslovak National Monument in 1985, and in 1993 was listed as a World Heritage Site together with the nearby Spiš Castle, Spišská Kapitula, the National nature reserve of Dreveník (a travertine formation).

Vlkolínec, situated in the centre of Slovakia, is a remarkably intact settlement of 45 buildings with the traditional features of a central European village.  It is a remarkably well preserved rural medieval settlement featuring wooden architecture typical of hillside and mountain areas.

A unique church dedicated to Saint Kosmos and Saint Damian stands on the top of a hill at the edge of the village of Lukov-Venécia in north-eastern Slovakia.  It is the log structure consisting of three parts built on stone masonry. The architectural particularity of this church is the overhanging attic on pillars around the building. It is also the only church in Slovakia with a cellar. Another wooden church listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site is the Evangelical articular churches in Kezmarok. These “articled” churches are built under the article of the law issued by Emperor Leopold I at the end of the 17th century, and possess an extraordinary worldwide value.

Banská Štiavnicais a town in central Slovakia, in the middle of an immense caldera created by the collapse of an ancient volcano. For its size, the caldera is known as Štiavnica Mountains.  It is a completely preserved medieval town. Because of their historical value, the town and its surroundings were proclaimed by the UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site.

Sources: Wikipedia, Slovakia Travel, UNESCO

Traditional dress of Slovakia

Decorated and cultural - the Slovak Kroje

24 Apr 2015 | From Zuzana of Slovakia

THANK-YOU POSTCARD

This is one of the two than-you postcards that Zuzana sent me for the postcard I sent her through the official Postcrossing track.

No other European country has as strong and diverse folk traditions as Slovakia. Not surprising, considering that Slovakia has been at the crossroads of both traders and invaders for millennia – bringing goods and ideas from many other cultures and stimulating creativity in the making of everyday objects, entertainment and celebrations. Slovakia is proud of its rich folklore and folk traditions. Each region, city, and municipality has a unique character and folklore – costumes, music, songs, architecture, customs, traditions, dances and dialects.

Slovakia is a country with rich heritage of folklore. In the past, songs, costumes, and customs were a way to preserve national identity. Every region, even villages, had its own distict folk costume as a way of identification. 

The traditional dress of Slovakia has the influences from the medieval style of clothing that was gradually altered with different patterns, designs and modifications. The changing occurred due to the foreigners that used to come in the region and the historic fashion trends in the clothing were evolved. New kinds of raw materials were introduced in the region and variations were brought according to the geographic and climatic need as well. In the lowland areas of Slovakia, people usually preferred linen and the costumes were of loose nature while in the mountainous areas, woolen textiles and furs were also used and the clothing was fashioned more tightly. Today, it is only a matter of festive occasion to dress up traditionally in every state of Slovakia.

Kroje or “kro-yeh” is the typical name of the decorated,traditional and cultural dress worn by the Czechs and the Slovaks. Women’s traditional dress in Slovakia was characterized by a long, large skirt and a white blouse with large sleeves tapered to the wrists. Men’s traditional wear in Slovakia was fashioned to the town style of the period and the accessories included narrow trousers, tight waistcoat, jacket tapered to the waist etc. The dresses were usually made from cotton (skirts and summer trousers) and wool. Woolen material in white, blue and black was used for festive trousers, waistcoats and jackets. These were adorned with braiding.

Source: The Lovely Planet

Sights and scenes: Lučenec

Art Nouveau houses built around 1900

11 Feb 2015 | From Ilona of United Kingdom

POSTCROSSING FRIEND | POSTCARD SENT FROM SLOVAKIA

This postcard was sent from Ilona's recent visit to her home country in Slovakia.

Lučenec is a town in the Banská Bystrica Region of south-central Slovakia. Historically, it was part, and in the 18th century the capital, of Nógrád County of the Kingdom of Hungary. In 1918, as a result of the Treaty of Trianon, it became a part of Czechoslovakia. The town has a large abandoned synagogue, built in 1924, which served a large Jewish population before World War II.

Lučenec is the economic centre of the whole Novohrad region, which includes districts Rimavská Sobota, Poltár and Veľký Krtíš. Lučenec and its surroundings were inhabited in the Stone Ages. Slavs moved to this area in the 6th and 7th century as the first permanent settlers and the Hungarians joined them in the 10th century.

Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art – especially the decorative arts – that was most popular during 1890–1910. It is considered a "total" art style, embracing architecture, graphic art, interior design, and most of the decorative arts including jewelery, furniture, textiles, household silver and other utensils and lighting, as well as the fine arts. The style of combining Art Nouveau and national architectural elements was typical for a Slovak construction and design.

Sights and scenes: Prievidza

Prievidza, Slovakia

29 Aug 2014 | From Katarinka of Slovakia

OFFICIAL POSTCROSSING

Prievidza is the economic and administrative centre of the area of Upper Nitra. This city in the central-western Slovakia is considered as one of the”greenest” towns of Slovakia. Prievidza is a centre for many institutions of regional importance - governmental as well as commercial.

Several places of interest can be visited in Prievidza. The Hornonitrianske vlastivedné múzeum (Museum of Natural History of Upper Nitra) in the monastery from the 18th century offers information on history of the town. The monastery with its church is one of the most beautiful Baroque complexes in Central Europe. The national cultural monument Rušňové depo (Locomotive Depot) is considered the best-preserved facility of its kind in Slovakia. The stone-made Trojičný stĺp (Holy Trinity Column) from 1740, with its front side decorated by a sculpture of St. Rozália, dominates the Square of Freedom (Námestie slobody) in the town of Prievidza.

When in Slovakia...

Concerts and Events promotional ad

2 June, 2014 | From Edna of the Philippines

The establishment of the XL promotion agency dates back to 2001. The agency is based on long-term experience of its founder in organizing top quality sport and social events and concerts.

Since its inception the agency has organized hundreds of events of different character and size, from small local events to large international projects and VIP events.

When in Slovakia, check out their site to be in the know of all the events and happenings year round.

My first postcard from Slovakia

Sights and Scenes of Slovakia

12 Apr, 2013 | From Petra of Slovakia

OFFICIAL POSTCROSSING

Beautiful tourist destinations and places in Slovakia as shown in a single postcard.

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi). Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. The largest city is the capital, Bratislava, and the second largest is Košice.