Tips for trips

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.