Slanske Vrchy Mountains
The rocky formations of the Slanske vrchy have the volcanic origin. The largest tourist center is Sigord (the artificial lake), located in the Delna Valley. The dam is the favorite area for the inhabitants of Presov who take advantage of the fishing and water sports available there. The valley offers numerous hiking possibilities and the view from the summit of Mount Simonka (1092 meters) is magnificent.
Saris Castle
The Saris castle was built in the half of the 13th century. Today they are remained only the ruins after the fortuitous explosion in the second part of the 17th century. After then it is not more restored. The tower high 28 m and the palace with the room of the knights dominated the castle.
The Saris castle, to its times, was one of the largest and most important of Slovak castles and was the center of the Saris district. The hill with the castle was declared a Nature Reserve. The well marked path that leaves from the country Velky Saris carries the visitors up to the castle.
Bardejov
The town of Bardejov is situated in the north of eastern Slovakia. The news written more ancient of the town dates back to 1241. In the 1320 king Charles Robert of Anjou granted to colonists from Silesia extensive rights, which speeded up the process of transformation of the chartered village Bardejov into a town. In 1365 Bardejov obtained the right of capital punishment and in 1376 King Louis I. promoted it to the status of Free Royal Town.
In 1950 the town of Bardejov was declared a protected city core and an intensive restoration of the cultural heritage was begun. It was for the preservation of its heritage that in 1986 Bardejov was awarded the European prize - Gold Medal by the International Board of Trustees in Hamburg. Bardejov became the holder of this award as the first town in the Czechoslovakia. In the 30.11.2000 Bardejov was enlisted into UNESCO World Heritage List. The most protected monuments are in the first place the town fortifications and the small Jewish quarter.
Important monuments of Bardejov are: the Town hall, The St. Egidius church, the Town fortifications, the Former Humanist Gymnasium, the church of St. John of Baptist, the Greek-catholic church, the Evangelical church, the Orthodox church, the Former Jewish Complex.
Spis Castle
It is one of the largest medieval castle in the Central Europe. It had been mentioned by the 12th century as a regional castle. The main body of the castle was surrounded by a stone fortification in the first half of the 13th century. This enabled the castle to resist the raids of the Tatars in 1241.
In the same century the fortifications was mainly strengthened by the Italian stonecutters who worked to the construction of the Spisska Kapitula. Of the 13th century it is a Romanesque palace, the gothic dwelling tower and a now non-existent Romanesque chapel.
These monuments are situateted in the higher courtyard. During the reign of Ludovit (the son of Charles Robert of Anjou) the castle was extended by the addition of the central coutryard with an entry gate and barbican in the 14th century. In the half of the 15th century the lower courtyard was built Its construction is cenected with the army of Ján Jiskra of Brandýs, that it was called after the dead of the king Zigmund (in 1437) in order to protect the new Hungarian king still underage Ladislav Pohrobok (1445-1457).
The Spis castle is belonged to many owners. In 1464 it was property of the Zapolsky family, in the first part of the 16th century of the Thurzo family and the last proprietor after 1636 was the Csaky family until 1945.
During a fire in 1780 the castle suffered extensive damage and was not reconstructed afterwards. From 1970 in the castle imposing jobs of restoration are carried out. In the restored part of the castle is situated the exposure of the history of the Spis castle and in the underground prison the torture instruments.
In 1993 the Spis castle together with the surroundings (Spisske Podhradie, Spisska Kapitula, the church in Zehra) was enlisted into UNESCO World Heritage List.
Open:
May-September, Mo/Su: 9.00.30-18.00
April, October, Mo/Su: 9.30-16.00
Levoca
The oldest document, where Levoca is mentioned for the first time, was issued by Hungarian king Belo IV in 1249 after a Saxon immigration wave, the Levoca town became the administrative capital of the region Spis. In 1323 Levoca became a Free Royal Town. Between 1370 and 1410 he town was fortified with wall.The St. Jacob's church - with its wooden altar very well preserved (the one of the highest in the world) it is the work by Paul of Levoca and the Church of the Minorities represent the gothic art in the town. The most interesting it is the building of the Town Hall, built between 1559 and 1615 in Renaissance style.
