Levoča

The old Levoča is situated at the foothill of the Levoča Mountains, in the hearth of characteristic Slovak region Spiš. The oldest archeological finds found in Levoča area date back from the 9th century. The name Levoča was first mentioned in document of king Bello IV from 1249. Another document of king Štefan V from 1471 introduced Levoča as the capital of the Association of Spiš Saxons. The town had many rights and privileges. Significant aristocratic families and personalities lived there. Since 2009 Levoča and the work of Master Pavol have been added to the List of World Heritage UNESCO as a part of locality "Levoča, Spiš Castle and surrounding monuments". Let´s go and discover the magical history of this superb town.

Spišské Podhradie a Spišská kapitula

Originally, Spišské Podhradie was a settlement bellow the Spiš Castle.
It was a community of the Sas nation living in the Spiš region. Already in the 14-th century it became an important centre of crafts. In 1412 it was (as a part of a deposit) given to the polish King as counter-value for the financial loan.
A church, built in the Roman style with some gothic and classicistic features and the gothic side-altar (1500), is an interesting cultural monument. In the town, there you will find a renaissance Town Hall from the year 1546, renaissance and baroque houses of craftsmen and townsmen, a church and a monastery of merciful brothers (rebuilt in the Baroque style) and a baroque marian column.SURROUNDINGS: Spiš Castle (4 km), Dreveník (5 km), Spišská Kapitula (2 km), Žehra (5 km), Levoča (15 km), Gelnica (35 km), Spišská Nová Ves (25 km).

Spišský hrad - Spis Castle

On a dolomite rock 200 m above the surrounding land, at the elevation of 634 m, there is one of the most precious cultural monuments in the Spiš region that reigns over the Spiš basin - the Spiš Castle. It is not just an evidence of architectural development from the 12-th to the 18-th century. With its area of 41 426 m2 it is at the same time one of the largest castles in the Central Europe. Its history is very rich, too. The rock the castle stands on was inhabited already 40 000 years ago.

The National Park Slovak Paradise (Slovenský raj)

is situated in the eastern part of Slovakia. In 1964 it was proclaimed the Protected Landscape Area and in 1988 recategorised by the government imposition to be the National Park. The park covers the area of 19763 ha (197,63 km2) and the protected zone 13 011 ha (130,11 km2).
Originally, the whole region of the National park was a large territory, later divided by the rivers (Hornád, Hnilec) and the creeks (Veľký Sokol-Big Falcon, Suchá Belá-Dry Belá, Biely potok-White Creek) into several bigger and smaller plateaux (Glac, Geravy). During the thousands of years the creeks formed gorges with waterfalls (Kyseľ, Piecky, Sokolia dolina-Falcon Valley, Zejmarská roklina- Zejmarská Gorge), that are typical for the Slovak Paradise.

Levočské vrchy a Levočská dolina

Tourist trails:
-Okolo Levoče (Levoča - Zbojnícka lúka - Uhlisko - Levočská dolina - Mariánska hora - Levoča)
-Hrebeňom Levočských planín (Levoča - Mariánska hora - Kúty - Uloža - Krúžok - Závada) 

-Hrebeňom Levočského úbočia (Hradisko - Brezová - Zbojnícka lúka - Levočská dolina - Kúty - Mariánska hora - Levoča)  

In the summer:  ideal place for cycling, in Levočska dolina natural BIO swimming pool with the possibility of fishing for trout.

In the winter: - in Levočska dolina downhill skiing 

   - in Úloža (Krúžok) newly built center for cross-country skiing.

The High Tatras mountains (Vysoké Tatry)

situated in the northern part of Slovakia, on the border with Poland. In 1949 it was declared to be the first Slovak national park (TANAP) and in 1993 it was together with the polish part of the Tatras mountains declared by the UNESCO to be the "Biospheric reservation of the Tatras".
The High Tatras were created about 60 mil. years ago heaving up the granite massif above the level of the surrounding land. It gained its current appearance by the glacier activity 2 mil. years ago. The characteristic peaks (such as Gerlachovský Peak, Kriváň, Rysy, Lomnický Peak), deep valleys of glacier origin (Mengusovská Valley, The Grand and The Small Cold Valley), moraines and mountain lakes (Štrbské Mountain Lake, Skalnaté Mountain Lake ) were formed the same way, too. 

Kežmarok and surroundings

Kežmarok is the most visited town in the Spiš region. And it is worth of it. It is the second most important town in Spiš (following Levoča). Nowadays it is a treasury of cultural monuments. Its wooden Evangelic church from the year 1717 is really unique. However, the new Evangelic church with its unusual architecture is very interesting, too. It was designed by a Danish architect, Teofil Hanssen. Close to it you can notice a building of a former Evangelic Grammar school with a large library. A famous Slovak national poet, P. O. Hviezdoslav, studied right there. A complex of buildings around the Catholic church with the oldest renaissance bell-tower in Spiš and with the buildings of a former elementary school are very impressive. The church with late-gothic vaults is a very rare architectonic historical monument. Its interior contains several gothic altars and statues. The castle of Kežmarok was built by the Zápoľský family. Later it was used by the Thököly family. Today it is a museum. A railway station was built in the "Jugendstil" style. Prof. Alfréd Grosz, a humanist and a lover of the High Tatras, lived in Kežmarok for many years. Some residents decided to build a memorial devoted to him.

Other interesting towns in surroundings of Kežmarok are: Spišská Belá, a birth place of J. M. Petzval, an inventor of modern photographic optic - with a museum of photography and cinematography in his family house, In a manor house in Strážky you would see a very nice gallery with a large collection of Ladislav Medňanský paintings. Moreover, there is also a renaissance bell-tower and a gothic church with fresco-paintings.

Vrbov with thermal swimming pools

The thermal swimming-pool Vrbov is situated close to the village Vrbov, on the way from the Spišský Štvrtok to Kežmarok.You will find here ten pools with mineral water. The water is famous with its exceptionally strong healing effects on kinetic system, rheumatism, heart-, urologic- and asthmatic- illnesses, suitable for people after heart attack. We recommend water-massages with gas coming up directly from boreholes. Water temperature is about 26-38 °C. If you dream about catching fishes, you can do it in sport-lakes, situated just a few minutes from the pool - after buying a special tourist-licence.