Holiday apartment in Lietavská Svinná-Babkov: Lietava Castle and Súľovské skaly

The nearby Lietava Castle rises above the entrance to the municipality of Lietavská Svinná-Babkov. The municipality’s cadastral area includes the Súľovské skaly and Skalky sub-units of the Súľovské vrchy; they are part of the Strážovské vrchy Protected Landscape Area.

Nature

A green-marked hiking trail begins in Rajecké Teplice, leads via Skalky and Lietavská Svinná to Lietava Castle, and then continues in the direction of Žilina. From Lietavská Svinná, a green-marked hiking trail leads to the summit of Cibuľník in about 45 minutes, with an elevation gain of 213 metres; the summit offers beautiful views. The local tourist association maintains the marked hiking trails and has installed benches and tables for resting in the Krieš and Cibuľník areas.

The nature around the village thus features various types of trails and landscapes: the green-marked route connects several places and leads to the castle, while the ascent to Cibuľník is described as a separate section with an approximate time and elevation difference. The benches and tables are located in the Krieš and Cibuľník areas. In this way, the trail routes, named terrain features and marked resting places form part of the same local hiking network.

The Súľovské skaly feature named rock towers, needles, walls, windows and arches. Around 50 rock formations have been named in total. The Súľovské skaly rock landscape is popular with climbers. Regional cycle route 5405 Lietavská Lúčka–Porúbka leads via Babkov to Lietavská Svinná.

The rock formations give the landscape a particular variety of terms: towers, needles, walls, windows and arches describe different features within the same area. The approximate number of named formations also makes it clear that the rock landscape consists not merely of a single striking point. Alongside the hiking connections, cycle route 5405 adds a signposted regional link whose route includes Babkov and Lietavská Svinná.

Culture

Dom spomienok is a permanent exhibition of historical objects from Lietavská Svinná-Babkov. The Dom spomienok collection includes furniture, work tools, clothing, documents and photographs, most of which come from the municipality. Dom spomienok is open to visitors on request. The Church of the Seven Sorrows of Mary in Lietavská Svinná dates from 1993.

The bell in the bell tower of Svinná was originally located at Lietava Castle and was subsequently donated to the settlement of Svinná. The brick bell tower in Lietavská Svinná-Babkov houses a Renaissance bell dating from 1606, which probably came from the chapel of Lietava Castle. The Renaissance bell is still functional and is traditionally rung by hand.

History

The nearby Lietava Castle has a permanent exhibition on the history of the castle, archaeological finds and firearms. It has been expanded to include a tactile exhibition.

Traditions

The local tourist association’s traditional annual events include the opening of the hiking season in the Žilina District, known as “100 jarných kilometrov”, at Lietava Castle. During Lent, a Way of the Cross takes place daily from the cemetery in Svinná to Krieš.

More pages about localities: Stráža, Čičmany, Kunerad, Kamenná Poruba, Belá, Višňové, Dlhé Pole, Jasenové.

To the higher-level travel overview: Žilina District.