Holiday apartment in Spišská Stará Ves – Dunajec, church and gallery

Spišská Stará Ves is located in the buffer zone of Pieninský národný park. Every year, from spring to autumn, tourists can travel from Spišská Stará Ves through the Dunajec Canyon on wooden rafts. During the trip, several-hundred-metre-high limestone cliffs and rock walls can be seen rising directly from the river.

Nature and water

In the wider area around Spišská Stará Ves, the nature trail through the Dunajec Gorge runs along what is also called Pieninská cesta. The designated nature trail has ten stations and information boards. Together with the rafting trip through the Dunajec Canyon, which is available annually from spring to autumn, this means that two differently designated attractions are available in the wider area around the town: the Pieninská cesta nature trail and the trip through the gorge on wooden rafts. During the rafting trip, the several-hundred-metre-high limestone cliffs and rock walls rise directly from the Dunajec.

The two attractions also differ in form: Prielom Dunajca, or Pieninská cesta, refers to the nature trail with ten stations and information boards, while the seasonal trip travels through the Dunajec Canyon on wooden rafts. The trail is located in the wider area around the town, whereas the rafting trip is explicitly described as departing from Spišská Stará Ves.

Culture

The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Spišská Stará Ves was built in the second half of the 14th century as a two-nave Gothic church. It retains its Gothic presbytery, two Gothic portals and Gothic windows with original tracery. The late Baroque high altar dates from 1765. The church also contains a painting of a seated Madonna from 1490.

The Galéria Ferdinanda Kleinbergera Katonu in Spišská Stará Ves is a permanent exhibition of the Tatranská galéria in Poprad. The permanent exhibition comprises 50 oil paintings and 30 drawings by Ferdinand Katona. The gallery presents nearly one hundred selected works by the artist featuring natural motifs from the Spiš region and the High Tatras.

History and folklore

The plague and cholera cemetery in Spišská Stará Ves was established after the devastating plague epidemic of 1710. In the same burial ground, 71 victims of the cholera epidemic were buried in 1831, 121 years later.

The FS Maguranka folklore ensemble regularly takes part in the Zamagurské folklórne slávnosti and in various cultural and social events in Spišská Stará Ves, the nearby area and the wider region. During the tourist rafting season in the Pieniny Mountains, FS Maguranka presents Gorol folklore and the tradition of placing the wedding bonnet on the bride's head. The 41st Zamagurské folklórne slávnosti were held in the amphitheatre of Spišská Stará Ves.

Geographical setting

Class II road II/542 runs through Spišská Stará Ves from Spišská Belá via Slovenská Ves to Spišská Stará Ves. The named places and transport connection form the geographical framework of the town within the nearby region.

Other places in the address area

Other places in the address area: Malý Slavkov, Stara Lesna, Lendak, Veľká Franková, Matiašovce, Mlynceky, Majere, Červený Kláštor.

For the higher-level travel overview: Kežmarok District.