Stará Turá: Holiday apartment between hiking trails and culture

Stará Turá combines concrete hiking experiences with a remarkable cultural and local history. A yellow-marked hiking trail leads from Stará Turá railway station to Holubyho chata on Veľká Javorina in approximately 3.5 hours. The station continues to serve as a railway stop and is therefore also a prominent starting point for this trail.

Hiking and nature

A separate route is the Drgoňova–Durcova dolina educational trail. It is 4.9 km long, has an elevation gain of 100 m, takes approximately 1.5 hours and has four stations. The educational trail is an easy route with four information boards and is also suitable for families with small children. Thus, two differently designed trails run alongside one another within the municipality: the yellow-marked trail to Holubyho chata on Veľká Javorina, which takes approximately 3.5 hours, and the educational trail with its manageable course through Drgoňova–Durcova dolina.

The natural area of Stará Turá includes the Pavúkov jarok protected area. It covers 22.49 ha, is part of the Natura 2000 European network of protected areas and is subject to the fourth level of protection. The protected area safeguards floodplain meadows and relatively well-preserved riverside woodland with rich populations of Maculinea butterflies.

Culture and history

One of the notable buildings is Stará veža, also known as Husitská. It is the oldest surviving building in Stará Turá and a three-storey stone tower. A tower was presumably added to the church in Stará Turá in 1624. The Toleration Evangelical Church combines Classical elements with a Baroque influence and has galleries on three sides. It also houses an organ made in 1873, which is a protected monument.

The Calvary of Stará Turá is located in the Drahý Roman Catholic Cemetery. Its access path is lined with fourteen Stations of the Cross. The Calvary complex of Stará Turá contains the Chapel of the Holy Cross, a Neo-Gothic building with a semicircular apse.

Several museums explore the history of the town from different perspectives. The Stará Turá Town Museum displays fossils, remains of Quaternary mammals and archaeological finds from the Stone and Bronze Ages. Its ethnographic section deals with the development of crafts, guilds, trade and trades in Stará Turá. The Roy Sisters Museum is dedicated to literary and music studies, as well as the social and spiritual work of Mária and Kristína Royová. Visits to this museum can be arranged by telephone or email in advance.

Railway history is also present in Stará Turá. The Railway Museum includes an exhibition on the Veselí nad Moravou–Nové Mesto nad Váhom railway line and the surrounding branch lines. Visitors can try out a Morse apparatus, view old timetables and learn more about railway operations in past decades.

Traditions and local history

Craft markets and events in Stará Turá have become a tradition. The Javorina Cultural Centre organizes four craft events every year: one in spring, one in summer, one in autumn and one in winter.

A special connection to the history of Slovak bryndza leads to Detva. The butcher and merchant Ján Vagač, who came from Stará Turá, founded the first commercial bryndza dairy in Slovakia there in 1787. According to local tradition, the first bryndza producers in Slovakia came from Stará Turá.

Other places

Other places that you can access from here: Hrachovište, Moravské Lieskové, Považany, Nove Mesto Nad Vahom, Brunovce, Dolné Srnie, Vaďovce, Čachtice.

To the higher-level travel overview: Okres Nové Mesto Nad Váhom.