UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE

OPEN AIR LIVING MUSEUM AT THE VILLAGE OF

VLKOLÍNEC

Few years ago traveling with my friend Monika Barabašová from Martin to Zvolen via Ružomberok, Donovaly and Banská Bystrica to make an interview with my friend potter Katarína Vaisová we detoured to a mountain road ending in the village of VLKOLÍNEC. What a site, unbelievable! This was just few months subsequent to Vlkolínec receiving its official recognition and designation as a world's heritage site. Today there are total of five world heritage sites in Slovakia: Vlkolínec, Spiš's Castle and surrounding villages, including the Church of the Holy Spirit at Žehra, Banská Štiavnica medieval mining town, Slovak Karst and the caves of Domica and city of Bardejov.

The first mention of Vlkolínec comes from 1376. The people used to be farmers. Vlkolínec is village with two rows of houses with long courtyards. This is the only village in Slovakia that has not been disturbed by new development. This village is a living memory of the village's past. It is in the jurisdiction of the town of Ružomberok.

The village has currently 32 permanent inhabitants, from which only two families are young persons that are about third of the houses. The part time vacationing owners use the second third only in summer for recreational purposes. The last third of the houses are the ruins, or the houses burned down during the national uprising in the Second World War. The remaining members of the village are against modernization that would include new water system, sewage facilities, etc. One three-space house is preserved as a museum. Black kitchen complete with old kitchen utensils, furnished living room-dining room-bedroom all in one and a storage pantry room. The houses have not gotten tap water and the water well is located by the road in the middle of the village, housed in a wooden shed. Chickens and other farm animals’ roam unnoticed freely in the village and there is a sense of peace and tranquility there.

It was rainy and foggy during our visit there and I hope that when I visit Vlkolínec again, the weather will be more cooperative and I will be able to see and appreciate the complete beauty of this magnificent village.

Over the years I returned to Vlkolínec on numerous occasions and here some pictures for all of you.

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Published in the Slovak Heritage Live newsletter Volume 2, No. 1, Spring 1994
Copyright © Vladimir Linder 1994 
3804 Yale Street, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5C 1P6
The above article may not be copied, reproduced, republished, or redistributed by any means including electronic, without the express written permission of Vladimir Linder. All rights reserved.