Discover Kluknava: Shoe Museum, Trails and Cultural Heritage

In Kluknava, exploration begins with an unusual collection: the exhibition of the Shoe Museum is housed in the listed Dom služobníctva s hospodárstvom near the centre of Kluknava. The museum presents shoes that were used from prehistoric times to the present day. The Shoe Museum also includes Kluknavská chyža, with a shoemaker’s room and workshop, historic tools, shoes and figures in historic folk costumes.

Culture

The covered wooden bridge over the Hornád River connects Kluknava with the settlement of Štefánska Huta; it is a technical monument and was built in 1832. The ruins in Štefánska Huta are from Europe’s first electrolytic copper production plant, which was built in 1845–1848. In Kluknava, the water mill with a Francis turbine dates from 1910. In the nearby forests of Kluknava stands the Chapel of Saint Anne, which continues to be a pilgrimage site; believers come there every year on the last Sunday in July.

For the historical classification of Kluknava, architectural history, industrial history and religious use can be considered separately; the places mentioned differ in function and chronological context.

History

The Church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria in Kluknava was built in 1555 as an originally Protestant Renaissance church. In 2012–2013, it was extensively restored, with its interior modernised with new mosaics. The church continues to be used for its religious purpose. The Baroque manor house in Kluknava is of Renaissance origin and dates from 1715–1720; it belonged to the kluknavsko-iliašovská line of the Csáky family.

For a holiday apartment in Kluknava, travel dates, room category and cancellation conditions are three separate pieces of information. They describe the time frame, the selected category and the conditions of an offer, without replacing the focus on the local features. In the surroundings of the shoe museum, churches, technical monuments and nature trails, these details can therefore be read independently of one another.

Other places: Nalepkovo, Gelnica, Margecany.

Nature

At 1,028.5 metres above sea level, Roháčka is the highest peak of the Čierna hora mountain range. The educational trail “Personalities and History of Kluknava” is an approximately 7.5-kilometre circular route that runs mostly through natural surroundings. The information boards along the trail also contain English texts.

The Green Point observation tower is located above Kluknava and is approximately 1.5 hours on foot from the village. Green Point could be climbed year-round, including during the evening and night hours. Until October 2023, a 35-metre-high observation tower called Green Point was planned for Kluknava.

The nature sections in Kluknava therefore differ in their described temporal arrangement: a circular route and a destination with a stated walking time can be viewed as different forms of exploration. The approximate details help assess the scope of an excursion in advance, without equating the offerings.

For the overarching travel overview: Gelnica District.