It’s a new day and a new drive for Rosie and The Operator who are off to see the ruins of the famous Spis Castle en route to the UNESCO listed, walled, medieval town of Levoca in Slovakia.
This Journey is all part of our 24 Day Road Trip through Slovakia, Romania and the super cities of Budapest and Vienna.
We are leaving behind the beautiful town of Bardejov and it’s an easy going, back road, one and a half hour drive through small villages and farmland yellow with ripe rape flowers nodding in the breeze. It’s a pleasure and so easy self-driving in Slovakia. The roads are mostly good surface quality and very quiet with not a lot of traffic. The speed limit on the motorway is 120kmh and on the secondary roads that we are traveling, between 70 and 90kmh.
We hired a Hungarian rental car at Budapest airport and before we crossed the border into Slovakia we had to register and pay online for an ‘e vignette’. This lets the authorities know electronically that we have paid the road tolls as it records our car number plate whenever we come to a Slovakian road toll zone.
Its easy to register, all you need is the car rego, your name and address and a credit card. You buy the vignette as a visitor for 10 days, 30 days or for one year, it’s a one off payment allowing you to travel freely, without fine, anywhere in the country.
In Slovakia they do not have expensive toll booths on their roads and have elected to collect revenue this modern way. We registered ours online, with English translation, on our drive to Slovakia and it was all ready to go when we crossed the border. You can also stop at a service station and retrospectively buy them when you cross the border into Slovakia, but you will be charged an additional fee and will probably encounter a local who does not speak English. Here is an easy link to getting your e vignette.
We are on the lookout for Spis Castle, the largest and most photographed Castle in Slovakia. Is that Spis Castle Rosie asks The Operator as she points to a castle on a hilltop? Doubt it, said The Operator, it is not big enough and we have not driven far enough. This random castle whom Rosie cannot seen to find any information about sits up so high looking over the valley.
Ten minutes down the road Rosie nods and says matter of factly, this must be Spis Castle…nope said The Operator, we still haven’t driven far enough. Wow, the castles are sure coming thick and fast.
On every hilltop sits a another crumbling castle, testament to the feudal heyday of the country. To be honest, Slovakia has the highest concentration of castles per capita to any other country in the world. Especially in this area of the country!
Seriously, they are everywhere!
In between castles, the modern infrastructure of power poles, pylons, bridges, railway lines and rail stations all seem quite old and not well maintained with every piece of metal being rusted and old looking. The houses in the villages that we flash through are boxy and mainly in the same era of forlorn decay. Every house in lieu of a front or back lawn has a brown square of a vege garden all dug ready for summer planting.
Nothing in this small country is far apart, so, it didn’t seem long before we saw a rocky outcrop on the horizon with craggy castle like buttress darkly silhouetted against the sky. The Operator pointed it out to Rosie.
Is that finally Spis Castle? Rosie asked excitedly, pulling her eye from the rolling fields to the skyline? I don’t know said The Operator, it looks pretty big…google it. Yip, pics from the WWW identified it and we stopped at every twist and turn in the road to take pics of it as we got closer and closer.
Spis Castle was built in the 12th century and was the political, administrative and cultural center for the Kingdom of Hungary. Kings and influential families have lived in this castle throughout the ages. The last owners of the sprawling 4 hectare castle abandoned it in the early 18th century as they deemed it too uncomfortable to live in. In the 1780s the castle was destroyed by fire. There are a couple of rumors circulating still to this day on why it burnt down.
One theory is that the family that abandoned it burnt it down to avoid paying the tax that applied to roofed buildings at the time. Another theory is that it was tragically struck by lightening. And, the third was that some soldiers were in the castle making moonshine and during the process accidentally started a fire.
Whatever happened the castle was no longer occupied and fell into disrepair. It wasn’t until the middle of the 20th century that the castle was partly reconstructed and protected with a UNESCO heritage status.
The position is undoubtedly commanding, sitting atop the rocky outcrop on which it is built. Grey castle stone built onto grey natural rocky out crop makes it look like the castle is sprouting from the mountain itself depending on the light.
Driving up the winding road to the castle it just gets bigger and bigger and you appreciate how sprawling the complex is. From the castle itself, looking back over the landscape you can see for miles around. The view is supposed to be spectacular over the farmland and right to the foothills and peaks of the High Tatras themselves, unfortunately today, even though the sky was blue and the day bright, the early morning haze hadn’t burnt off and visibility was quite low in the distance.
The town of Spisske Podhradie sits below the castle under its lofty watch. It too is a UNESCO site and its small main street is immaculate and picturesque. We stop for a stroll and some pictures and carry on, our overnight destination of Levoca is not far away.
Driving into the town of Levoca felt strange, and Rosies first impression is one of disappointment. Its not an out right obviously pretty town, its Main Square is not really a public square per say that Rosie has come to expect and it all seems a bit haphazard and underwhelming….yet the guide books rave about it. Hence why it is on Rosies road trip.
In actual fact, the Guide Books are saying that this is what Slovakian Villages mainly looked like in the 13th century. The beautiful squares and towns we have visited so far are the anomalies and this town is the norm, as far as proper medieval authenticity goes. Oh, Ok, Rosie gets it now….once you understand that and look deeper, this town grows on you. It is full of charm, secrets and original nooks and crannies.
Levoca was a fully fortified town built in the 1300s, this huge defense wall and multiple bastions was built to totally surround, enclose and protect the town. Being one of only three Royal Towns in Old Hungary, Levoca enjoyed alot of privilege and wealth because of where it sat in the middle of a great inter country trading route at the time.
We drove in through the Kosice Gate one of the two original town gates that are still in use today and the town was empty…and Rosie means ghost town empty. Not a single soul was moving about anywhere, it was so quiet. The door to the entrance of our hotel was locked, we couldn’t get in and no one was answering the doorbell or telephone…that seemed to be nothing new here in Slovakia so off we set to explore the town.
This small town of 15,000 is all about the ancient buildings that line the town square. It’s a shame the modern road also forms a ring around the inside of what once would have been a pedestrianized Town Square. Don’t kid yourself Rosie said The Operator you would still have been dodging horse and carts back in the day too. Lining the square are houses, general shops, cafes, bars and restaurants. The buildings are all shaped and painted painted differently and are in various state of repair. These grand houses all belonged to the wealthy traders, burghers and noblemen back in the day.
The castle like Thurzo family house is one of Rosie’s favorites in the town. They were wealthy merchants and business people who owned metal mines around the country and built this house in the 15th century. It still has the original Renaissance attic and its facade is decorated in the original modern sgrafitto decoration of the day. They were big copper merchandisers and manufacturer’s….you can tell by the copper guttering. By the way, the whole town is full of it, from the guttering and down pipes to the window sills being lined with it as well. This family did a roaring trade.
The Basilica of St James is the 14th century centerpiece of the town and busloads come to see the 11 Gothic alters (with the main one being 18 metres high) that this pilgrim church is famous for. You cannot just enter this church and have a wander around…you have to book a tour and not all are guaranteed English speaking…plus there are NO photos in the church. Oh, by the way, we do not sell tickets in the church you have to go to the museum across the road and get one….you know what…Rosie just couldn’t be bothered….The Operator was more than happy with that. So, folks, this is the church from the outside.
Next to the Basilica is The Town Hall, it is big and impressive with stacked levels of arcades. With it being Sunday when we visited the town it was of course closed, a wedding however was happening and guests were arriving and milling about by the Cage of Shame.
The Cage of Shame stands outside the Town Hall and is the original medieval metal pillory from the 16th century which stands on a fixed base. This cage was used for punishing woman who were caught walking the streets at night without a suitable male escort, breaking the curfew and for talking out of turn about others. Your punishment was to stay in the cage for 24 hours and pretty much have the whole town see you and be free to mock you. The mayors daughter back in the day was caught breaking curfew and served a whole 48 hours in the cage….because she should have known better!
It was a beautiful spring day to be wandering around the town, there was a lot of reconstruction going on and it looked like the town was getting a nice make over and tidy up. The stumps of the heavily pruned trees were starting to sprout green shoots and they lined the main streets around the square. To Rosie, this town was all about the beautiful faces of the houses and there were plenty to wonder at up close.
Looking down on the town from its perch on the green crown of the Marianska Hill is the Basilica of the Virgin Mary. The haul to the top is 781 metres, a good steep climb achieved by The Operator later in the day…Rosie drove up…and the view over the town was beautiful.
That night on the recommendation of the hotel which finally opened at about 4pm in the afternoon we had a lovely dinner amongst locals at Kupecka Basta restaurant inside and on top of the bastion walls.
Rosie had beautiful Slovakian Dumplings stuffed with a creamy potato mash and sheeps cheese, on top was a warm sour cream sauce with delicious finely chopped spec. The Operator had a plate of slow cooked Confit Pork Ribs, the was to die for, it was so tender and moist, on the side, of course there was grated horseradish and a bowl of pickles.
Chalk up another relaxed day in Slovakia for Rosie and The Operator, chilled sightseeing, mixed with a few beverages on a sunny terrace makes for great relaxation with a beautiful view. Rosie judged Levoca with an initial glance and was glad we had the time to dig deeper into it. Slow down, wander around and this town has a beauty and deep history that grows on you.
Tomorrow we temporarily leave Slovakia and are off to the big smoke of Vienna for three days! This looks like a big city with a lot of promise, Rosie has wanted to visit for so long….we cannot wait to have a look around.
Liking what you see of Slovakia? Check out other places Rosie and The Operator have visited in this beautiful country
24 Day Roadtrip Itinerary which includes Slovakia, Romania and the Mega Cities of Vienna and Budapest.
Kosice – Medieval Gem of a Town and the second largest city in Slovakia.
