English
Slovensky

Make Things Happen!

  • SNP girl’s project, day 12

    SNP girl’s project, day 12

    The third day in the east, where we had covered more than 80 kilometers in the last two days, was slower. In the morning we start from the same point in Bardejov where we finished yesterday’s stage.

    By the way, Bardejov Town Hall Square is one of the most beautiful in Slovakia. It is a great pity that the SNP bypasses it, it is definitely worth making a small detour.

    The square is rectangular and is surrounded on three sides by a row of typical narrow townhouses. On the north side of the square is the dominant of the city – the Basilica Minor of St. Egidius, connected to the Renaissance building of the former city humanities school.

    The indescribable atmosphere of Bardejov Square is enhanced by its representative town hall building from the 16th century, built in the Gothic-Renaissance style. It houses the exhibition of the Šariš Museum dedicated to the history of the city.

    Mihaľov

    We pass through the picturesque village of Mihaľov and continue to Hervatov, running for a surprisingly long time on asphalt roads, which is significantly faster, but less fun :).

    Church of sv. Francis z Assisi

    In Hervatov there is a wooden church of St. Francis of Assisi and it is surrounded by a stone wall covered with wooden shingles. This church is also on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It was built at the end of the 15th century in the Gothic style and is our oldest preserved wooden church in the Gothic style. Its exterior has remained almost untouched even after more than half a millennium. However, we were unable to get inside.

    calvary on the way to Žobrák

    We leave the asphalt and start climbing a really steep dirt road to Žobrák Hill. At its top there is a small chapel and a little further on there is a shelter and a lookout tower.

    Views from the viewpoint on the top of Žobrák

    We continue through Bukový vrch to Čergov, which is the highest point of today’s stage. Around Bukový vrch we still found remnants of snow cover.

    From Čergov, all that’s left for us is the descent to Terňa, it’s starting to get warm, we only have a pinch of water left and we’re already looking forward to the radler that we have left in the car at the finish line 🙂

    34.19km, 5:47 active time, 1346m ascend
  • SNP girl’s project, day 11

    SNP girl’s project, day 11

    Our legs are working surprisingly well after yesterday and we are going on the next stage, this time from Kurimka to Bardejov.


    Three-dimensional coat of arms of Zborov

    A beautiful addition to the route is Zborov Castle (to which there is a detour, that’s why we went to see it yesterday as part of active regeneration:) The oldest mentions of Zborov Castle, or also nicknamed Makovický Castle, come from the beginning of the 14th century.In the past, it was an important defensive castle.

    The original royal Gothic castle did not initially have a large area. It consisted of a massive prismatic tower, a palace and an irregular courtyard, to which other buildings were added later. At a time when the country was preparing to defend itself against Ottoman aggression, this Gothic castle was rebuilt into a very modern Renaissance representative fortress with basic fortifications modeled after Italian architecture. The new owners renovated the oldest parts, expanded the living and farm premises and the walls. In addition to the reconstruction of the basic upper castle, they also rebuilt the second courtyard and added a third courtyard with a semicircular bastion, defensive wall and embrasures. The third courtyard was entered through an ingenious entrance gate on the southwest side with a drawbridge. The triple fortification system was supposed to prevent the castle from being raided and secure it against conquest even if the enemy occupied the entrance gate. However, it fell into disrepair from 1680, and its fate was sealed in 1914 by the fighting between the Russian army and the Austro-Hungarian army in the neighborhood of the village, which badly damaged the ruins of the castle. After the war, the castle continued to fall apart, and only ruins remained of the once majestic feudal residence.

    Inner courtyard of Zborov

    Today, the walls and torso of the architecture have been preserved in the area of ​​Zborovské hrad. In some places, embrasures, corner framing, window and door openings have been preserved in the walls. Since 2010, the castle has been undergoing revitalization works.

    Castle Zborov

    From Zborov we start to climb Stebnícka Magura, it is warm, the sun is shining and snowdrops are blooming in the forest. That’s beautiful, but bottled water runs out suspiciously quickly 🙂

    Viewpoint at Stebníckej Magure

    At the top of Stebník Magura there is a wonderful lookout tower (to which an endless spiral staircase leads). The newly built observation tower resembles the so-called Berzewicz Tower built in 1905 on the same site, which was destroyed during the First World War in 1918, the replica tower reflects the original design.

    Thirsty, we run down to the Bardejov spa, where after a while of wandering and searching we find mineral springs.

    They are our salvation, we refill the bottles and set off along the spa promenade to the last hill that separates us from Bardejov.

    Bardejov mineral springs
    32.34km, 5:55 active time, 1402 m ascend