In recent times Slovakia has enjoyed increasingly favoured urban tourism for culture and history. Visitors are attracted by ancient architecture, food tourism, folklore events, coming to know local residents, rest, entertainment and relaxation. Slovakia is proud of its rich folklore and customs. Each area, town or village has its unique character and own folklore, or traditional clothing (kroj), music, songs, or architecture, customs and traditions. The folklore customs of individual regions are presented at folklore festivals in several places in Slovakia. The Východná folklore festival is the oldest and largest Slovak festival with international participation. On average 1400 participants from various countries perform at this festival each year.
The most important part of cultural heritage is represented by the monuments fund. This consists of national cultural monuments, which are in particular castles and manor houses but also chateaus, sacred buildings, burgher’s houses and technological monuments. Slovakia ranks among countries with the largest number of castles and manor houses in Europe. A total of 425 chateaus and 180 castles and manor houses together with castle ruins are found here. Among the most well known and most visited castles is Spišský hrad (the Spiš Castle), which is regularly visited by more than 200,000 people each year.
Folklore
If we are speaking about culture in Slovakia, we are clearly speaking about local folklore. Slovakia and the Slovaks as such are exceedingly proud of their rich folklore and customs. We consider among folklore the unique kroj (clothing), songs and architecture as well as traditional foods, such as bryndzové halušky (potato gnocchi with sheep’s cheese) or traditional folk dance and traditions practiced during individual holidays. The folklore customs of individual regions differ from one another in certain details, but for the most part they all are linked with the past and with the veneration of traditions.
National Cultural Monuments
The Slovak Republic currently has seven locations recorded on the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage monuments, five cultural and two natural. Among the cultural localities are: Banská Štiavnica and the technical monuments in its vicinity since 1993. The town of Levoča, Spišský hrad and associated monuments since 1993.
Folk architecture reserve Vlkolínec since 1993.
Historical centre of the town of Bardejov since 2000.
Wooden churches in the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountains since 2008.
Slovakia also has two natural locations recorded on the list of world cultural heritage. One is the caves of the Slovak Karst and the Aggtelek Karst, a location which is shared with Hungary and has been registered since 1995. The other location is the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathian Mountains and Ancient Beech Forests of Germany, put on the list in 2007.
The Slovak Republic is also interesting due to its place on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, namely these three elements:
- Fujara
This is a musical instrument of folk culture labelled as the “queen among folk instruments”. It is found only in Slovakia, especially on the territory of central Slovakia, and for several centuries now has been one of our national symbols. The fujara has a relatively unique sound, which adds to its uniqueness, for which Slovaks can be praised even abroad.
- Music of Terchová
This is an oral musical culture coming from the village of Terchová and its surroundings. Terchová music is characterized by a 3-4 member stringed ensemble as well as multi-vocal singing of all the musicians.
- Bagpipe culture
Bagpipe culture represents the sum of all cultural expressions linked to the musical instrument the bagpipe and its use, all knowledge which this instrument, its production, its form and its use represents and that accompanies it.
It’s possible to travel to any of the towns in Slovakia for culture. In each of them it is possible to find regular artistic exhibitions, musical performances or concerts or cultural monuments from the past. Košice, the largest city in eastern Slovakia, together with the southern French city Marseille, was in 2013 the European capital of culture, but the rich cultural life endures even after the year ended.
The tourist industry in Slovakia
Slovakia is also known for its curative spas, 30 of which you can find in Slovakia. A total of 63,271 foreign tourists visited Slovak spas in 2015. The largest share of them were from the Czech Republic (27,594), followed by Germany (7,695) and Israel (5,870). The most famous spa in Slovakia is the spa in Piešťany, which each year is visited by nearly 100,000 people, nearly half of whom are domestic visitors.
The tourism industry is one of the most dynamic and developing sectors in Slovakia. Revenues from the tourism industry exceeded 2 billion € in 2015. More than 20,000 entrepreneurs work in the tourism industry, and in Slovakia there are approximately 3,500 accommodation facilities with more than 160 thousand beds, which accommodate more than 11 million overnight stays. According to statistics from the third quarter of 2016, as many as 1,597,555 foreign visitors were accommodated in Slovakia, among which the largest portion were from the Czech Republic (500,451), Poland (157,097) and Germany (136,994). For comparison, the number of foreign visitors climbed by 254,152 people versus 2015.
Several recreational centres have been built in Slovakia and are used in both the summer and winter season. Favourites among them are several ski resorts but also reservoirs or thermal parks. Among the greatest benefits of Slovakia in terms of the tourism industry is its natural monuments, such as mountain regions, forests, tarns, lakes and caves, which are used for winter sports, hiking, climbing or canoeing.
Summer tourism industry
Despite the fact that several larger water surfaces, such as, for example, Zemplínska Šírava or Liptovská Mara, are located in Slovakia, touring and hiking tourism are more developed here. Among the most attractive tourist regions not only here in Slovakia but in all of Europe is the area of central Slovakia, whose axis is formed by the River Hron and whose centres are the towns of Banská Bystrica, Banská Štiavnica, Brezno, Kremnica, Sliač and Zvolen. Back in 1993 these formed the Nadácia Pohronie (the Hron Foundation), which is the subject of unique regional development and promotes tourism and welcomes all who come here for rest, recreation and hiking, rich traditions, colourful history and undisturbed natural locations. The primary attractions during the summer months are in particular the castles and manor houses. Another tourist attraction is the metropolis of eastern Slovakia: Košice, the European Capital of Culture 2013 and the European City of Sport 2016, where the oldest marathon in Europe is held each year. Košice is also the city with the largest monument reservation in Slovakia and with the largest golden treasure found in Europe, which is located in the underground spaces of the East Slovakia Museum.
Winter tourist industry
Slovakia, as a mountainous country, has very good natural conditions for the development of winter sports. Up to 62% of its territory is mountainous. The average number of days with snow cover in most of the country is more than 90 days. The highest mountains which attract skiers from wide surroundings are the Vysoké Tatry, or High Tatras. These can be considered as the most significant tourist destination. Between 2015 and 2016 year-on-year growth of up to 20.8% was recorded by the tourist industry. The largest portion of visitors is regularly recorded from the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany and Hungary, but the number of visitors from Ukraine, Russia and China is growing.
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