Travel adventures - Slovakia - Mini Gallery of Wooden Churches and Door to Poloniny
Today I'll take you on a very special tour with me. We will stay in Eastern Slovakia and explore wooden churches that can only be found in this part of country. But first we will learn about a project called 'Dvere do Polonín' (Door to Poloniny) and visit an educational walkway 'Pod tmavou oblohou' (Under the dark sky).
It's going to be a long tour so let's start!
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Dvere do Polonín
This project was created to build a unique relaxation area in the village of Ulič, in a place that was not maintained before and where locals were disposing the garbage. The project was finalized in 2013.
This is where the area starts.
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There is also a small lake from where you can admire beautiful views. There are a few tables and a few BBQ spots as well. It's usually very crowded but we are now in the middle of the harvest period and locals are mostly working on their fields.
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When you enter the area, you will see a symbolic gate to National Park Poloniny - a blue door. Behind the door, visitors can find benches and wooden sculptures.
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The wooden sculptures are created by local artist Mr. Gaľa. They represent various animals and fairy tale creatures.
Here are a few of them:
A snail and a turtle
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An old man symbolizing wisdom
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An owl
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A stork
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I can't get enough of these views!
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We saw some hops too. I think it's more for decoration than for actual consumption.
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We found this mushroom today, but we didn't take it as we didn't want to carry it around for the rest of the day. Plus it was so cute that I couldn't pick it up.
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Pod tmavou oblohou
Part of the area is dedicated to the educational walkway 'Pod tmavou oblohou'. This is the place where children can learn more about the forest, the plants and the animals living there.
There are various activities for children to keep them excited but also some education boards with detailed and interesting information about the region.
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Are you asking why is the walkway called 'Under the dark sky'?
This region is the least populated region in Slovakia and the street lamps are turned off from 10 PM. When people go to bed and turn off the lights in their houses the surroundings become pitch dark. This makes it one of the best places in Europe for stargazing.
National Park Poloniny is also called Dark - sky Park Poloniny for this reason.
There is also a logo with directions to other protected areas of darkness in the world.
I was disappointed to see that the Big spider web (next to the logo) representing stars constellations was damaged.
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Mini Gallery of Wooden Churches
From the area 'Dvere do Polonín' we walk down the hill to the village to visit Mini Gallery of Wooden Churches.
First of all, let me tell you that I love this project!
The project shows us the architecture, history and the present state of the wooden churches of the Eastern Rite which are the most valuable cultural monuments of this region.
Not all of them survived the wars but there are seven of them which are preserved and present in villages in the region.
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In the gallery we can see replicas of churches produced from the oak and pine woods.
In the beginning of the 20th century there were still thirteen churches present in the region. Part of them were destroyed, mainly during the World Wars. The wooden church in Runina was destroyed during the World War I and the one in Prislop in World War II. Church in Strihovec was destroyed in the period between the wars and the church in Dara was destroyed shortly after the World War II.
Wooden churches were built on a stone basement without using metal nails. Their interior is divided into three parts (narthex, nave and sanctuary) which symbolizes the Holy Trinity.
The replicas are made in scare of 1:10 in a local protected workshop.
I hope you will enjoy them as they are the most important part of my region (even though I'm not Orthodox but my dad's family is)
Ulič
The original wooden church was dismantled in 1866. It was standing on the top of the hill in the village where the gallery is built. It is only known from the painting preserved on the original iconostasis.
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Nová Sedlica
The church of St. Michael the Archangel was built in 1764 and dismantled in 1974 and moved to the Open - Air Folk Architecture Exhibition of Vihorlat Museum in Hummene. I will take you there next time.
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Ruský Potok
This is replica of the preserved church standing in Ruský Potok. It was built at the end of the 17th century and it is the smallest wooden church in the region.
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Príslop
The wooden church of St. Mother of God was built in the 18th century and destroyed during fights in World War II.
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Dara
The wooden church of St. Mother of God in Dara was built in 1806. It was dismantled after the new brick church was built in 1956. The only thing that is left from the church is the iconostasis that was moved to the church in Príslop.
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Kalná Roztoka
The wooden church of St. John Baptist was built in the 18th century is the only church in the region in 'a coat' (timber frame wood, clayed and white-limed).
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Uličské Krivé
The church of St. Michael the Archangel was built in 1718. It has the most beautiful iconostasis. This is the only church with regular service and it is the easternmost wooden church in Slovakia.
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Zboj
The wooden church of St. Nicolas was built in 1706. It is considered the most beautiful wooden church in Slovakia. In 1967 it was dismantled and moved to the open - air museum in Bardejov.
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Do you want to see a wooden church that is preserved and in the original location? Here you go!
We visited Ruský Potok to compare the church with the replica in the gallery and I must say that the artist did a great job in creating the replica!
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The church is usually closed and it's only open for special celebrations.
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There is a new brick church next to the old wooden church. I like the old church better 😊 Which one do you prefer?
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I think you will like this old Tatra truck that is standing next to the parking place. It must be standing there for long as there is grass growing out of it 😊
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After our trip we visited my grandma and showed her the photos. She was so excited to see them! She cannot get out of house for several months already and she is very thankful to see the world at least through the photos.
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I hope you have enjoyed another day with me!
All pictures are taken by my Nikon D3200 AF-S NIKKOR 18-55 mm 1:3.5-5.6 G II (except of the ones indicated in the text)
Thank you for reading,
Cheers,
Martina
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I don't know how you manage to always find places with no people, but wow those are some incredibly interesting locations and shots. I don't know why no one else seems to be there :D
LOL! Oh Dave, there are not many people living there. There are 80 residents in Runina, in Rusky Potok 133 and in Ulic 875. So I hope now you understand that there are no people around :)
Well, people (like me) can't find job and leave for better life. There is also bad infrastructure so companies are not coming to the region. On one hand it's good. The nature is amazing because there are NO developers :)
Thank you for your comment! :)
That old church is incredible! All of the history and stories that church could share if it could talk.… really cool. Slovakia looks very interesting and beautiful. It’s really nice when we can find little ways to connect our grandparents to the world right?!? Thanks for the tour @delishtreats :)
Thank you my dear! Indeed, it is a very beautiful country that deserve more attention! Oh yes, she is so thankful that we do it. And I'm always happy to see her smile. At certain point you realize that family is what counts the most! :)
Yes… and we can learn so much from the older generations in our family.
Those little wooden churches are stunning! It always warms my heart to see such a beautiful way to preserve history. I know times change and not all buildings can last forever, but such wonderful architecture should not be forgotten. Thank you for doing your part to preserve it and share with us! And of course the views are stunning, as well. :)
Thank you Katie! Exactly! I'm so glad that the care is taken to preserve our history. This region is very special and I dare to say there is no other region like this so it would be a shame to lose it's face.
There are too few places left like that, so I hope it stays that special!
I've never seen even a picture of a wooden church before, I have to say there's something really special about it! That Mini Gallery of Wooden Churches is a brilliant idea, you see get to the architecture and learn some history simultaneously, I love it! Wonderful photos and description again Martina, I really enjoyed the day with you! :)
They are typical for Orthodox religion. But there are not that many left.
They are very unique and the interior is beautiful. Very different to any other churches. I will try to get some photos in December, when I'm back in Slovakia.
Thank you for stopping by and for your kind words Jasmin!
I would love to see the interior of a wooden church, if you say they're beautiful, I cannot doubt it! Is there snow in Slovakia in December? I'm just wondering would the old wooden churches survive from all the temperature changes.🤔
They are brilliantly built so they would :) I mean they are surviving hundreds years already so I would not worry. I will definitely make a post with the interior as soon as I get there again :)
There is a lot of snow. There are winters when the locals can't get out of their houses for a couple of days because of too much snow :) I guess it's similar in Finnland, isn't it?
I'll be looking forward to that! There can be a lot of snow in Finland too, but there's usually no problems here with transport, snowplows are working effectively! So there's no snow days like in the US and Canada where schools can be closed because of the weather conditions, I imagine that would've been nice as a kid, haha!
We had these days! Sometimes even weeks when it was so cold that they were not able to turn on the heating, lol! It was so cool to play outside all days without going to school!
Horrible for not having any heating in the house, but fun playing outside all day as a kid, it's always nice to reminisce some old memories! :)
Quite a trip you had there. There is so much to do and see there. When you mentioned about turning off the lights everywhere an awesome spot to do milky way photography. Beautiful place you shared.
Thank you for your comment!
YES! You cannot see the stars like this anywhere else in Europe. As kids we would lie down on a meadow stargazing. We would be trying to put together stars constellations even though we only knew a couple of them :)
Milky way is clearly visible there as well.
Martina, what a great treat to get more tours of Slovakia. These wooden churches are great and that you got to see some of the originals too. So glad you get to visit your grandmother and show her!
Thank you for your comment Sara! These churches are stunning! When I go there next time, I'll try to go inside one of them to show you the interior too! I'm happy to visit my grandmother so often! Family is the most important!
Such interesting and unique churches. I don't think I have ever seen anything like them. I also like the park and wooden sculptures. The old man is my favorite :) Great photos @delishtreats
Thank you for stopping by! BTW, are you Steven or Patrick or Steven Patrick? :) I think there are not many places with such churches nowadays. I'm glad that Slovak government is preserving what is still left.
Hahaha, yes, this one also the biggest one! It doesn't look like it but it but it's almost 2 m high!
Steve is fine :)
Nice to meet you Steve! :)
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Thank you for your support!
I have a friend from Slovakia, she's wonderful!
And you are very kind to talk so nicely about your friends here! :)