SMOLENICE AND SURROUNDING NATURE
In the midst of western Slovakia where the widely
spreading ridge of the Low Carpathian Mountains begins to
take up altitude with its highest peaks, a sharp break
divided the mountain range into two parts. This pass, not
very deep but narrow, through a rocky dolomite terrain
Bukova and Trstin thus constitutes a nature-made connecting
line between two lowlands - those of Zahorie and Danube. The
mountain range, which is relatively high compared to the
lowlands from which it rises, once presented with its varied
relief and dense forests an almost insurmountable barrier to
the invaders and protection to the domesic inhabitants.
History and modern archeological finds give evidence of
the fact that the pass used to serve one of major roads
connecting the north of Europe with the south - a branch of
the Amber Road leading from the Baltic down to the
Mediterranean region. In Middle Ages when the boundary
between the kingdoms of Hungary and of Bohemia was
constituted first by the ridge of Low Carpathians and later
by the river Morava, the commercial and military Bohemian
Road led through the pass. Under the southeastern slopes
near Trstin and Smolenice the road forked so as to reach two
significant river fords - one across the Vah near Sered and
the other across the Danube in Bratislava.Today, the pass is
intersected by a new highway and railroad and the original
historical road between Bukova and Prievaly had lost on its
importance.
The nature endowed this significant communication point
with countless riches. Our eyes glimpse over the golden
waves of endless cereal fields only to be attracted by the
horizon of lush green colour of the hills flanked with rich
vineyards and orchards. They are overlooked by deep
Carpathian forests, murmuring gently and evoking a
mysterious echo in the rocky ravines and deep caverns of the
Smolenice karst.
As in a fairy-tale garden, all of a sudden above the
tree tops you catch a sight of the picturesque Smolenice
Castle on a low hill. White walls, red roofs, dark
embrasures of embattled bastions, tens of windows reflecting
golden rays of the setting sun and imposing structure of the
donjon towering above.
The Slovak Academy of Sciences as the top scientific
institution in Slovakia was given the Castle of Smolenice on
the occasion of its establishment on June 26th 1953 by the
Slovak National Council.
Many international scientific meetings are held in
Smolenice under the auspices of international world-wide
organisations and are attended by prominent representatives
of the world science.
The present Smolenice Castle is standing on the site of
a former Gothic fortified castle from the 15th century. In
the past, the castle was adapted in accordance with the
needs and preferences of its individual owners. In the 15th
century, it was in the possession of the Hungarian king
Sigismund of Luxembourg and played the role of a guarding
castle. Later, in the early 16th century, it was owned by
the Orszagh family, toward the end of the 16th century it
got into the hands of Erdody and Palffy families. Like other
castles, the Castle of Smolenice also suffered many turns of
fate. It is well known that in the beginning of the 18th
century it became the scene of fights between the Kurutz
rebels and emperor's army. During the Erdody rule, the
castle declined and its next owners, the Palffy family,
abandoned the castle to its gloomy destiny. The last blow
was dealt by the Napoleonic wars when the castle burned down
and fell into ruins.
The construction of the present Smolenice Castle was
undertaken on the ruins of the ancient castle in 1854 and
the actual construction of the main castle building started
as late as in 1911. Under the influence of romanticist
ideas the builder drew inspiration from the architecture of
the castles of Central France. The builders did not hesitate
to pull down completely the original historical building
from which they preserved only the peripheral bastions.
Skillful hands of Italian craftsmen in stone - and metal -
work then produced hundreds of beautiful details that even
today prove their superiority and long-standing tradition in
these crafts. The copper gate made by the master Mazachetti,
stone portals of Swedish granite, and Italian marble
together with other stoneworks made of precious domestic
stones still evoke in us admiration for their unimpaired
beauty. Although the owner longed to see the construction
completed, his financial means were not ample enough to
materialize his idea in its completeness. The crude and only
partially inhabited building stood almost lifeless still
after the World War. It is probably only due to a
coincidence of propitious circumstances that this unfinished
structure, lacking in unity of style but nonetheless
interesting survived up to the aftermath of World War II.
A thorough reconstruction of the castle was undertaken
by the Slovak Academy of Sciences in 1955. The accommodation
capacity has been set to 100 beds, so as to take full
advantage of the castle premises without disturbing its
external appearance and environment. The Smolenice Castle
has not been granted the status of a cultural monument and
is not open to public visitors and sightseers. It serves
exclusively the Slovak Academy of Sciences as its
residential and working establishment. The guests appreciate
its carefully maintained interior made even more attractive
by the green colour of indoor plants, green lawns of the
courtyards animated by flowerbeds, castle surroundings
featuring an English park, small lake and amphitheatre. Very
popular are evenings spent at a bonfire when the guests are
treated to a Slovak speciality - meat roasted in a ashes. To
wash down the meal, excellent Carpathian wines are served,
among them rulander, riesling, traminer, sylvaner,
veltliner, frankovka and a number of others. Not even the
rain can dispel the company at the bonfire, as the shelters
provide adequate comfort and protection.
Enchanting nature of the surroundings of Smolenice Castle
The charm of the surroundings is enchanced with the
interesting past and present history of this place. The
steep winding staircase of the main donjon leads to the
uppermost terrace of the castle that offers an unforgettable
view of the beautiful panorama of the conutryside. Sinuous
trails along the slopes surrounding the castle, flanked by
colourful vegetation, shrubbery and tree clusters of the
well-kept park invite the visitor to a pleasant and
comfortable walk in this oasis of silence. The light grey,
almost white bark of the birches attracts our attention
already at a distance and a gentle murmur of their tops
bending under the breeze resounds on the background of
stately spruces thrusting audaciously towards the sky.
Breath-taking undisturbed treasury of nature wealths. The
conical peaks which seem to be within the reach of your hand
invite for a visit. The most frequently visited are
Havranica (737 m) and Z ruby (761 m), the highest peaks of
the range. A lovely view is also offered by a two kilometer
stretch of countryside between Driny and Molpir. This deep
valley with alluring and picturesque nature, named Hlboca,
is one of nature's masterworks. A rocky karst canyon narrows
down to a steep cleft above Vlciaren, flanked by sharp rocky
excarpments overlooked by the vault of high slately
ash-trees lending the gorge an even more gloomy appearance.
The hill upon which the Smolenice Castle stands,
incites painters to transfer to their canvasses its
colourful vegetation with the prevalence of green, featuring
the majestic pines, tufted decideous trees, lime-trees in
blossom, meadow flowers and varied shrubs. Other visitors
capture this enticing and lavishing beauty into the
experienced and attentive lenses of their cameras to record
them in the memory of celluloid film.
The gratest attraction of the Smolenice karst is the
only karst formation in the Low Carpathian Mountains, the
cavern Driny that enchants visitors from all over the world.
It is the only cave in Slovakia that originated as a result
of cleavage. As opposed to the caves with oval-shaped
galleries and underground water flows, this cave has the
galleries shaped by fassures in the rocky massif. Individual
passageways are perpendicular to each other and display a
rich stalactite and stalagmite water. Over 550 meters of
artificially illuminated corridors are open to visitors
practically all year round.
Another attraction is presented by the hill-sides of
Veterlin and Zaruby that rank among the most important
habitats of thermophilous and mountainous plant and animal
species. The plant variety is greatest in the semi-steppe
and steppe meadows on the ridge and below it. In the spring
they bloom with the colours of Slovak anemones, adonises,
potentillas and other colourful flowers, while the shady
groves are covered by patches of corydalis, anemones,
snowdrops and other flowers. The thick and lush green of the
surrounding beech woods interspersed with hornbeams, oaks
(Quercus robur and Q. cerris), maple trees, alms, ash trees
and cherries with blotches of darker pines changes in autumn
to a variegated palette displaying all colours.
The Carpathian Mountains offer wildlife lovers
countless occasions of spotting deer, roes, boars and foxes
and ocasionally also fallow deer or bighorns. Sharp eyesight
of nature fans can detect the trails of martens, badgers or
otters. The long-legged storks walk slowly upon the
waterlogged meadows. Among reptiles, one can see here green
lizards, blindworms and three species of harmless adders.
The largest of them grows up to the length of two meters and
prefers shrubs on dry slopes. The rocky slopes also attract
falcons, hawks a owls.
The Carpathian Mountains, in addition to rich and
varied flora and fauna, contain also high-quality limestone
which is quarried in the vicinity of Smolenice. The best
lime is obtained from limestone quarried at Bukova. Near
Trstin there also is a dolomite extraction quarry.
Up to the town of Smolenice, the mountain slopes are
covered by vineyards, renowned for their light red wine made
in Oresany. In a wide basin, situated southwestwardly above
Horne Oresany, at the Oresanka brook, there is an old
chemical plant that already in the last century used dry
distillation to prepare substances for the production of
varnishes and paints. The extensive network of narrow gauge
forest railroads served until the recent period for the
transportation of beech timber from the forests down to the
plant an then to the railroad station on Kuty - Trnava line.
A new plant has been built in the vicinity of the station,
it is one of the most modern works of this type in Slovakia.
The low crest of Jahodnik separates near Losonec a
small valley enclosed from all sides from the wide basin on
its opposite side. It has a pleasant climate and is a
favourite weekend spot for inhabitants of Trnava and
Bratislava. A weekend-house village with a pool and
restaurant are crowded each weekend with visitors and during
the entire summer season they are frequented by town
inhabitants seeking here recreation and rest in the heart of
nature. The average annual rainfall in the Low Carpathians
is 750 mm with the maximum in May and minimum in February.
Dry months are July through September. The coolest month is
January (longterm temperature average is minus 1 to minus
3degC), the warment month is July (mean temperature plus 19 to
20degC).
A cumulus cloud visible above the rolling Trnava
hillocks rises in the eastern direction over the cooling
towers of our first nuclear power station in Jaslovske
Bohunice. Approximately halfway to Bohunice, the castle park
of Dolna Krupa forms a green oasis among the fields. The
Baroque-Empire castle of the Brunswick family was frequently
visited by Ludwig van Beethoven. His friends, Theresa and
Francis Brunswick, knew how to surround him with a pleasant
atmosphere of their provincial residence and the genial
composer wrote there some of his immortal works. It was
there that he met Guilietta Guicciardi (married Gallenberg),
to whom he dedicated his famous Moonshine Sonata. The
chimneys of Trnava factories are silhouetting against the
sky in the distance, above the silver surface of the water
reservoir of Boler z, visited by water sports fans and
fishermen.
Perhaps the most valuable archaeological discovery made
in the Low Carpathians is that of an ancient settlement at
Molpir, dating from the second half of the 7th century B. C.
The settlement was abandoned in the middle of the sixth
cent. B. C. The survey conducted in 1963-1971 by the
Institute of Archaeology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
confirmed that this territory played an important role in
the ancient history of Europe. It was then that the
Etruscans extended their power and influence to Rome in the
south and to Felsina (Bologna) in the north. Their beautiful
sculptures, potteries, metal products, sumptuous golden,
silver and bronze objects travelled far from their place of
origin that was governed by City-states with kings as
rulers. The City-states were being established at that
period - characterized by the development of the forces of
of production - by the Greeks. These Greek city-states -
polis - had flourishing crafts and commerce. The
unprecedented growth of trade gained for the Greeks new
territories and new customers for their overproducts. This
favourable impact of the Greek development on arts and
crafts was also felt in Slovakia of the 6th century B. C.
The fortified settlement of Molpir (the site easily
seen from the castle's terrace), dating from the younger
Hallstatt era, covers the surface of almost 12 to 14
hectares. Its mission was to demonstrate the power of the
chieftain and of the nobility and, in times of danger, to
protect the neighbouring population and its possessions from
enemies. Practical skills and knowledge of static
calculations posessed by the builders are also proved by the
fact that since 1963 when the remains of the walls were
uncovered and left unpreserved, they did not deteriorate.
The scale of the settlement is evident from the size of the
walls which are 2 meters wide and 2.5 to 3 meters high.
Among the excavations there was also a combined western
Slovakia was invaded by the Celts. For over two and a half
millenia - since the settlement was abandoned - stormy rains
gradually immersed fortified walls and transformed them into
elevations reminding of mounds. The settlement had three
courtyards.
The first courtyard served, in times of danger, for the
protection of inhabitants and its survey revealed that it
had no permanent dwellers. The monuments and structures
discovered in the second and third courtyard housed the
acropolis, dwelling of the ruler. The second courtyard was
modest, as attested by hut remains found on artificial
terraces.
Findings in the ruins of the third courtyard document
the concentration of military, administrative power and of
wealth. The artisans' production was sufficient enough to
meet the needs of the fortification and neighbouring
communities and the exchange trade only stresses the
historical significance of this powerful site. At the time
when Pythia delivered her prophecies in the Apollo Temple on
the slope of Mount Parnassus in Delphi - built in the 7th
century B. C. - there originated and flourished the
fortified settlement in Smolenice - Molpir and the temple
above the valley of the third courtyard. The temple and the
settlement, centre of power and glory, vanished shortly
before the destruction of Apollo Temple in Delphi.
These eloquent documents, discovered by the Slovak
Academy of Sciences, are silent witnesses of the past power,
intelligence, courage and glory of those ancient inhabitants
of our country.
The town of Smolenice
First written records about the densely populated
settlement of Smolenice date from the 13th century as
suggested by the charter issued by Bela IV in 1256. It
mentions, for the first time, Smolenice under the name of
"villa solmus" in connection with the frontier guards on the
Bohemian Road.
An interesting historical structure is the Bohemian
military and commercial road. According to a mention in the
1336 king's charter, Bukova was a custom-station. This
privilege of an important point on the medieval
transportation route was bestowed by seven Hungarian kings,
the last of them being Ferdinand II in 1808. The importance
of the road was recognized primarily by Hungarian kings from
the Arpad family that already in the 12 th century appointed
military garrisons to guard both sides of the range and
built a network of strong fortified castles for their
protection of which the closest to Smolenice are Ostry
Kamen, Korlatko and Plavecky Castle.
The Smolenice castle was one of the youngest guarding
and protecting castles in the Low Carpathian Mountains. At
the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, Smolenice was
granted the status of a town. The town's Gothic coat of arms
features a vine over reversed halfmoon with a star.
The town's young men were sent to study at Prague and
Vienna universities already in the 15th century.
Unfortunately, the town often suffered from adversities of
wars. Prokop the Great with his militant Hussites passed
through it in 1428. Nor did the Turkish raids and Hungarian
uprisings spare the town of Smolenice from suffering and
damages, even though the town and the late Renaissance
church from 1642 were protected during the attacks of the
Turks by solid fortified walls. And thus, in 1632, Smolenice
suffered the fate of many other towns and was raided by
fierce Turkish troops. At that time, the inhabitants dug
long underground passages as hiding places from enemy. They
started to dig long corridors in the cellars under their
houses that were leading up to the vineyards and Molpir in
the north. The inexorable history records that the castle
was conquered by the Kurutzes in 1705. Two years later,
however, these were chased away by the imperor's army.
In the 18th century, Smolenice was the centre of
several rapidly developing crafts. The most renowned was the
Haban pottery. One remarkable monument from that period is
the pillory standing in the marketplace and carved out of a
single piece of stone, in the manner of a Tuscan column
with a base and entablature. It is standing on a round
pedestal and is ending in a cone. The pillory is one of the
most representative baroque-style pillories in Slovakia.
The development of in the second half of the 18th
century required not only manpower, but also raw materials
in order to expand industrial production. The Low
Carpathians were rich in much apprieciated material - wood.
Several families of loggers of German origin, coming from
Austria, started to settle in the valleys outside the
community and in other localities of the Carpathian range.