Permanent expositions of the traditional folk art from the collections of the Orava Gallery (Oravská galéria) have been located in the beautiful natural scenery of Slanica Island of Art, in the centre of the Oravská priehrada dam.
From the five villages that disappeared forever below the surface of the water of the dam in 1953, only a low hill was preserved with a Baroque church and a Calvary that once was the dominating feature of the village of Slanica. A few years later, an idea to open permanent expositions of the Orava Gallery was implemented and the expositions were opened in years 1971 – 1973.
In the interior of the church with the facade from the Classical period, an exposition with the title "Traditional Folk Sculptures and Paintings“ and outdoor on the island "Lapidárium" - a collection of stone sculptures from Orava from the 18th- 19th century have been installed. In the former crypt there is an exposition of the history of the inundated villages and the construction of the Oravská priehrada dam.
Expositions with their unique character rank among the most visited cultural sights of Orava, also thanks to the attractive cruise on a passenger motor ship "Slanica" operating to the island from port No. 2 in Slanická Osada during the tourist season.
| Monday – Sunday | 09:00 – 16:30 |
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Platí od 15. mája do 15. septembra.
The water reservoir Orava is the result of artificial blocking of the river Orava in northern Slovakia as the remedy to frequent floods. It spreads as far as the Polish frontier. There is an island in the middle of the reservoir called Slanický ostrov – the favourite destinations of trippers.
Roháče are often and justly praised as the most beautiful part of the West Tatras. A crown of wonderful peaks dominated by the majestic Baníkov Mt. surrounds the extensive Roháčska dolina valley. In turn, the Ostrý Roháč and Volovec Mts. are the princes of the Roháče Mts. They form an indivisible couple of slender rock mountains in the principal ridge and look like two devils horns, expressed by their names (Ostrý Roháč means a sharp horn and Volovec means an ox).
The villages Prosiek a Kvačany in region Liptov are generally known as starting points for the trips to the most beautiful and most visited of the Slovak valleys - Prosiecka dolina and Kvačianska dolina.
The mountain Veľký Choč towering above the dividing line between regions Liptov and Orava is one of the most beautiful in Slovakia. Prevailingly spruce woods cover the mountain and in the highest parts a continuous growth of dwarf pines (unique in this whole mountain range) can be seen. For well-conserved forest bioncenoses with rare flora which in places acquire the nature of virgin forest, it was designated the National Nature Reserve.
The modern thermal park is built in the wonderful surrounding of Orava, close to the border with Poland. The highly mineralized thermal water, which springs in the depth of more than 1 kilometre, works curing/healing on psychic and stress and is used/utilised in balneotherapy.
AquaRelax is a modern aqua park in Dolný Kubín, outstanding for its unique pyramid architecture. It uses only crystal-clear water in stainless steel pools.
The birthplace of the first man to codify the literary Slovak - Anton Bernolák -disappeared under the level of the Oravská priehrada dam. A church was the only building to remain of the village. It stands on the Slanický ostrov island. A memorial was built there to commemorate its famous native.
The pride of Tvrdošín and its oldest preserved building is the Gothic wooden Roman-Catholic All Saints church (Kostol Všetkých svätých) situated in the local cemetery. In 2008, along with seven wooden churches of the Slovak part of Carpathian Mountain Area, it was included on the UNESCO Word Heritage List.
PODBIEL is a typical village lying in the region of Orava (north of Slovakia) with interesting compound of original log houses called Bobrova rala built in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
In the vicinity of the distinctive village of Podbiel, with its unique complex of folk-architecture buildings, located in the region surrounding the Orava dam, we can find the precious technical monument Františkova huta (Francis’s Smelting Plant).
Three kilometres away from Zuberec, at Brestová, a unique open-air Museum of the Orava Village (Múzeum oravskej dediny) can be visited. Over an area of about 20 hectares, and on both sides of the crystal clean Studený potok brook, is a village containing the typical folk buildings moved here from various regions of Orava.
The Late Gothic wooden church of St Elizabeth is the dominant structure in the Museum of the Orava village - open air museum situated only 3 kilometres away of Zuberec near Brestová. It stands in cemetery in the middle of wonderful mountain scenery. The church was originally built in the 19th century and moved here in the 20th century from village Zábrež.
The most attractive tourist locality of the northern Slovakia is the Orava Castle lying on the river Orava near the village Oravský Podzámok, below impressive cliffs. In 1370, it became a county castle and the seat of the Orava Castle estate, which included almost the whole region of Orava.
Experts classify water mills in the valley Kvačianska dolina among the mountain type of mills. They stand in what is often referred to as a most beautiful Slovak valleys, in the mountain range Chočské vrchy. This is one of the last surviving monuments of its kind and in its natural environment.
The Orava Museum established the exposition of the Orava Logging Railway and the Orava Co-ownership Association in the reconstructed premises of the service building and it will be pleased to welcome anybody coming to this beautiful part of Slovakia to spend their time in a pleasant manner and to have some new experience.
