PST

Detailed information about the Post Seminar Tour will be announced latest on 09.04.2015, after we have an approximate number of participants. The PST will take place from the end of SID on Sunday, May 3rd from 11:30 with the return to Bratislava on Sunday evening (1 day PST), or on Monday, May 4th 18:00 (2 day PST). Please don’t forget to sign up for the PST in the registration form and specify if you would like to join for 1 or 2 days.

What can you expect from visiting Slovakia?

Medieval Castles

More than 300 castles – many only evocative ruins – dot the landscape throughout Slovakia. These fortified places that often sheltered entire towns from rapacious invaders are poignant reminders of the perils of times past. It’s not surprising, then, that there are so many castles in Slovakia, which stands at the crossroads of cultures, religions and conquerors. In the 14th and 15th century, three Slovak castles were among the largest in all of Europe: Devín, Spiš and Trenčín.

Orava Castle

Where the 1922 movie Nosferatu, based on novel Dracula was filmed is located on the rocky hill above Orava River and Oravský Podzámok village. Castle was constructed in the 13th century from wood; slowly the wood was replaced by stone. Nowadays, the castle consists of three separate parts – the upper, middle and the bottom part. Many scenes of the 1922 German Expressionist horror film Nosferatu were filmed here, although until recently it was thought to have been shot in Transylvania.

Bojnice Castle

The most romantic and most visited castle in Slovakia is standing on the travertine hill above the town Bojnice. This beautiful castle is a national cultural monument and museum at the same time. It was declared as a National cultural monument in 1970. First written record about the castle dates back to the year 1113. Because of the exceptional beauty, Bojnice Castle was used for filming several fairy tales and other movies - e.g. Fantaghiro.

Caves

Slovakia has more than 4,000 caves and caverns under its mountains, 12 of which are open to the public. Most of the caves have spectacular stalagmites as large as tree trunks rising from the ground and massive stalactites hanging from above. Two caves have massive ice formations, and another is a rare aragonite cave.

Dobšinská ice cave

Belongs among the most important ice caves in the world. Since 2000 it is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage. As compared with known high-mountain ice caves Eisriesenwelt and Dachstein-Rieseneishöhle in Austrian Alps or with the Romanian Scărişoara Cave in Bihor Mts., which has the glaciated part at elevations of 1,100 to 1,120 m n. m., the monumental glaciation of the Dobšinská Ice Cave persist for thousands of years at elevations only 920 to 950 m.

Ochtinská Aragonite Cave

is the only aragonite cave in Europe. There are only 3 aragonite caves worldwide; one in Mexico, one in Argentina, one in Slovakia. Ochtinská Aragonite Cave (Ochtinská aragonitová jaskyňa) is situated in southern part of the country, near to Rožňava. It is only 300 meters long, but still very significant because of its aragonite filling. The most attractive part of the cave is Milky Way Hall with its characteristic oval formations. It is called this way thanks to its long crack in the ceiling fulfilled by formations of white aragonite that shine like stars on the Milky Way.

Small Carpathians & The Wine Trail

The foothills of Eastern Europe’s greatest mountain range, the Carpathians, begin within Bratislava’s city limits, making it possible to escape the urban environment in no time. Vineyards climb up the south-facing slopes of the Small Carpathians, which offer their own Wine Trail.

The Wine Trail of Small Carpathians

Leads through the former royal towns Bratislava, Svätý Jur, Pezinok, and Modra, contiguous villages and ends in Trnava. Apart from cultural and historic monuments visitors will be certainly intrigued by tradition of varied folklore in individual communes of this region where they can pass nice time in numerous wine cellars tasting the excellent dish like the baked goose with a glass of fine local wine.

If you’re planning on staying longer in Slovakia, you can find a lot of useful information here.