Trip
The Krásna Hôrka Castle
A picturesque countryside of Gemer set in the heart of Slovakia had always been seen as little Europe or small-scaled Hungarian Kingdom. Its hills, valleys and towns formed the scene of both our own and European history. During World War II and especially the time after it, the cruel hand of fate and of the emerging era devastated the Slovak cultural and historical heritage. Fortunately, even the socialist regime was unable to completely destroy the rich culture of our ancestors. However, only a small number of almost fully preserved castles has been left to please our eyes, one of them being the Krásna Hôrka Castle. The exceptional collections in the castle museum and different types of architecture attract visitors from all over the world. Join us on our journey and get to know our history through the medieval castle of the House of Andrássy.
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The Betliar Castle
The Betliar Museum specialises in documenting the history of gentry. It is located in the past hunting palace of the Andrássy family (a National Cultural Monument) which is situated in a large Romantic park in Betliar. The castle was one of the many other mansions of the family until 1945. The original building can be dated back to the first half of the 15th century. Soon it was enlarged. The present shape of the castle was formed during the last reconstruction at the end of the 19th century under Emanuel Andrássy. At end of 18th century a natural park was constructed closely corresponding to the surrounding nature as it was common at that time among the nobilities. Later it was wide-spread and supplemended by lots of dendrological rarenesses and today it is a big complex of 56-hectares with many watterfalls and building attractions. In 1985 the authorities of the Slovak Republic declared the whole area of the Betliar Castle to be a National Cultural Monument as a precious cultural and historical heritage of many centuries.
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The Ochtinská Aragonite Cave
Ochtinská Aragonite Cave has been included into the UNESCO List of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage and is situated in the hills of Revúcka Highlands, on the northwest slope of Mount Hrádok. The cave was discovered accidentally in 1954 while digging mining passages and 230 m of its total length of 300 m has been accessible to public since 1972. The rooms of the cave were created by the activities of athmospheric waters in crystalline limestones and later on in these cavities rare and valuable aragonite ornamentation was formed (famous is the shape called Srdce Hrádku – Heart of Hrádok). The rich and varied needle, spiral and kidney-shaped aragonite filling creates an unusually varied mixture of images and is unique of the kind in the world. Its white colour contrasts beautifully with the blue background of the limestone.
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The Gombasecká Cave
The Gombasecká Cave represents a fluviokarst outlet cave which is 1,525 m long. The two floors consist of oval, river modeled as well as fissure passages, which are in places widened by collapses into halls and domes. The upper floor is situated 5 to 10 m above the active riverbed of the Black Brook, which flows in the lower parts of the cave. Suchá chodba (Dry Passage), located on the upper floor, was formed by waters of unknown origin, which rise intermittently through the 10 m deep well in the Mramorová sieň (Marble Hall) also today. The cave is unique by thin straw stalactites which can reach as much as 3 m length. Also other forms of stalactites, stalagmites, sinter curtains, coatings and crusts can be found here. Air temperature in the cave ranges between 9.0 and 9.4 °C and its relative humidity between 95 and 97 %.
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The Domica Cave
Domica Cave is connected with the Čertova diera Cave (Devil’s Hole Cave) and together they reach the length of 5,358 m. They also form a genetic unit with the Baradla Cave in Hungary with the total length of about 25 km – almost one quarter of this area can be found on the territory of Slovakia. The cave is rich in sinter fills, from which the most typical are shields and drums, cascade pools (Roman Spa, Plitvice Lakes), onion-like stalactites and pagoda-like stalagmites. Air temperature in the cave ranges from 10.2 to 11.4 °C and its relative humidity from 95 to 98 %. The cave is known by palaeontological findings of cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) skeleton remains which were discovered in the Suchá chodba (Dry Passage). In the caves of Domica and Čertova diera sixteen bat species have been found so far.
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