In the autumn 1944 the fight for the Dukla col near Svidník in the north of Slovakia was certainly one of the most difficult ones of the World War II. Today there is The Memorial and the Cemetery of the Czechoslovak Army in Dukla.
It is situated near the border crossing to Poland – Vyšný Komárnik and it commemorates the Carpathian and Dukla Military Operation carried out in the autumn 1944. During the fights more than 60,000 Soviet and Czechoslovak soldiers perished here.
The Memorial is 28 m tall and is completed by a bronze statue by Ján Kulich named “Žalujem” (I accuse). It was built in 1949. It is set into the military cemetery divided by a colonnade of bronze tablets with the names of 1265 members of 1st Czechoslovak Army Brigade who died here.
The environs of the memorial with a cemetery make a vast open-air military museum established in 1965. The present exhibition was reinstalled in 1996 and it documents the military operation for the strategic crossing through the Carpathians.
The former battlefield can be seen from the bird´s eye view, provided by the observation tower. 55 pieces of different kinds of heavy military equipment from the World War II are placed in the area of the open-air museum and along the road to Svidník. In the surrounding forests one can, even nowadays, hide in the preserved bunkers. A part of the museum is also the Death Valley in the environs of the village of Kapišová where the hardest fights with a massive deployment of tanks took place.
Standing in the open mountain pass of Dukla on the Slovak-Polish border you can see an observation tower offering a spectacular view of the Slovak and Polish territory – the background scenery of the fights during the Carpathian-Dukla operation.
The small town of Medzilaborce, situated in the south-east of Slovakia, boasts of two European primacies. After the establishment of the first museum named after Andy Warhol, Medzilaborce has also erected the first statue dedicated to this representative of world pop-art.
Opened all year round, the ZOO Park in the east-Slovak town of Stropkov, situated in the Nízke Beskydy Mts., is an attractive cultural and educational facility, the only one of its kind in Slovakia.
Alnus Pension is located close to the border with Poland and 2.5 mi from the Nizna Polianka Ski Resort. It is provided with a café and elegant accommodations with free WiFi.
The Greek Catholic wooden church of Sts Cosmo and Damian from 1924. It is a three-space church with a three-tier tower. The interior of the church and iconostas are from the time when the church was built.
The Greek Catholic wooden church of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of Godfrom 1938 was built to the design of the Ukrainian architect and researcher involved with popular architecture V. Sichynsky. It is a typical structure of Boyko type, one-nave log building standing on taller masonry. The interior decoration is from the time when the church was built, but its iconostas is from the 18th century.
The Greek Catholic church of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God from 1764. The log building consists of three parts. It is covered by shingle roof with three little towers. Iconostas from the second half of the 18th century is not complete. Only fragments exist, such as picture of Mother of God from the second half of the 18th century. The tsar gate is lavishly decorated by woodcarvings with plant ornaments and paintings of prophets. Independently standing belfry from 1949 is next to the church. Both structures were reconstructed in 2000.
The Greek Catholic wooden church of St Michael the Archangel from 1777. The log building consists of three parts. Iconostas is from the mid-18th century, some icons are from the 17th century. Iconostas is a wooden polychromatic architecture with four rows of icons and tsar gate ornamented by woodcarvings and paint. It is from the mid-18th century. Some icons (Mandylion, St Michael, St Nicolas) are from the 17th century. The church was completely restored in 2001.
The Greek Catholic wooden church of the Sleeping Most Holy Mother of God from the end of the 18th century. It was repaired in 1947. It consists of three parts. This Baroque log structure stands on low stone masonry. The original interior decoration is missing. Some precious icons have been deposited in the Museum of Šariš in Bardejov. The church stands in the cemetery with old crosses.
The Greek Catholic wooden Church of St Nicolas (Chrám sv. Mikuláša) was included in 2008, along with seven wooden churches of the Slovak part of Carpathian Mountain Area, on the UNESCO Word Heritage List.
The Greek Catholic church of St Basil the Great from the 18th century (probably from 1730). The log building consists of three parts and is covered by shingle roof with three little towers. Part of this architectural compound is the log fence with shingle protective roof and wooden entrance gate. The Baroque iconostas is from the 18th century, individual icons are from the 17th century. Some picture (icon of St Michael the Archangel, St Nicolas, etc.) are from the 17th century.
he Greek Catholic wooden church of St Paraskieva from 1705. It is a log building with three spaces and a new diagonal nave on tall stone masonry. The church was rebuilt in 1932 when it acquired the form as we know it now, with to lateral chapels. The church was reconstructed in 2002. Its Baroque interior and iconostas are from the mid-18th century. The iconostas with the subject of the New Testament, figures of Apostles, Prophets and other Saints was restored. More artistic and historic icons and objects complement the interior of the church.
The Greek Catholic wooden church of theProtection of the Most Holy Mother of God from 1770. The log building consists of three parts and has three little towers. Wooden entrance gate with octagonal low roof covered by shingle stands in front of the church.
