Holiday apartment in Medzilaborce: Rusyn Culture and History

Medzilaborce lies at the confluence of the Laborec and Vydraňka rivers in the Laborecká vrchovina highlands, below the ridge of the Low Beskids. The Eastern Carpathians Protected Landscape Area is based here and is the easternmost protected landscape area in Slovakia. The natural conditions of the surrounding area are suitable for hiking, cycling, cross-country skiing, downhill skiing and other activities.

Landscape

An informative route through the surrounding area is the forest educational trail in Kamjana Forest Park. It begins at the cultural and sports complex on Mierova Street and takes about three hours. The educational trail is suitable for individual, family and school educational excursions. Along its route, the trail reaches 433-metre-high Kameň with its distinctive rock formation known as Čertov kameň.

Another route is called “Vydraňským chotárom”. It leads through Vydraň, now a district of Medzilaborce, to the Slovak-Polish border ridge. Along the way, the route offers views of Medzilaborce, the Laborecká vrchovina highlands, the Vihorlat Mountains and the Slanské vrchy Mountains.

Culture

The mini skanzen in Medzilaborce contains handmade replicas of Rusyn houses from the surrounding villages and conveys the history of a Rusyn village. It can only be visited accompanied by a staff member.

The Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit, with its unique architecture, is a landmark of Medzilaborce. Inside, there is a composition of 350 icons covering an area of approximately 1,600 square metres. The Greek Catholic Church of Saint Basil the Great is one of the oldest monuments in Medzilaborce. Services and sacraments are celebrated or administered in Church Slavonic and Rusyn.

The Roman Catholic Church of the Virgin Mary was built in 1903. A Lourdes grotto in front of the Roman Catholic parish church was solemnly blessed in 2002.

History

The exhibition “Battles in the Carpathians – Medzilaborce 1914/1915” in the Medzilaborce Cultural Centre presents the course of the fighting in north-eastern Slovakia, focusing on Medzilaborce and the wider surrounding area. Historical uniforms, as well as the equipment and weapons of the armies involved, are on display. At the same time, the exhibition covers the battles on the Carpathian Front that took place in Medzilaborce and its surrounding area from autumn 1914 to spring 1915.

Several war cemeteries and memorials from the First World War are registered in the territory of Medzilaborce. The monument to those who fell in the First and Second World Wars in Medzilaborce was unveiled on the fifth anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising. The Holocaust memorial in Medzilaborce was unveiled on 31 July 2008.

Annual Events

The Festival of Culture and Sport takes place every year in June in Medzilaborce.

Getting Around

The tourist train is intended to be stationed at the Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art and to travel through Medzilaborce and the surrounding area to various monuments. It is also intended to run from the Medzilaborce mesto railway and bus station on Mierova Street to Kalinov and back.

To the overarching travel overview: Medzilaborce District.