SK, Cicmany – Painted Beauty

There is the best weather to make trips these days. Therefore, we decided to travel from Bratislava to the north to beautiful village of Cicmany. To fully grasp its atmosphere we were decided to spend a night over. Among places offering accommodation we were pretty sure about our choice - Penzion Javorina. This guest house is situated in a renovated folk house. It looked homely from the first glance. Traditional form the outside, inside you can find a restaurant and wellness services. We would appreaciate the latter after returning from a trip.

We were bit tired after our ride to Cicmany. To be more concrete, we were hungry. Our was a large family room with a minibar and w-lan. Then we went to trendy restaurant offering Slovak cuisine. It was delicious and we still remember it. There was not much time left as it was afternoon when we arrived there. Therefore, we set off to explore the village.

The first written note of Cicmany come from the year 1282. It is still not clear how the village was founded. We won't bother you with details. However, the village was known for raising sheep, home-made shoes, grwoing crops, or milk-products productions - mostly brynza. Many of these traditions are held today as well. There are over 110 protected objects, 36 of which are cultural landmarks. Their magnificent decoration reminds of ginger houses in some fairy-tale world. 200 years ago, this house-decoration has started. Architect Dusan Jurkovic also found these houses interesting. He created a project of Cicmany homestead for a land exhibition in Prague. He also worked on the reconstruction of cultural heritage after the fire of 1921. In the past, burned lime was used to decorate houses. Later more lasting colors were used. There are only handful of original ornaments in the house. eventually, new ornaments replaced the old ones. Usually, these new are inspired by local folk costumes. These ornaments' technique, colorfulness, and lavishness is typical for Balkan countries. This all was what we learned at the exhibition in the Povazske Museum. The museum is located in two historical buildings. As in many villages, there is also a church in Cicmany. This one is a Baroque-style. It is church of Finding the Holy Cross. We found maintained Baroque/Classicist late-18th century chateau on the upper end of the village. Today, a restaurant and a hotel operate at this chateau.

We finished our walk at a shepherd's hut at the yard of Penzion Javorina. There we got a taste of their grilled specialties and joined live musical performance with our singing. Domestic animals were nice entertainment for children. Once the sun was setting, we visited a stone wine-cellar with a fireplace. We tasted wine and fresh cheese. There were much impression we got through the day, so we went to sleep.

On the following day morning, we set off the explore the landscape of the protected area of the Strazovské Vrchy. On our way, we found many mushrooms and medical herbs. Also, we enjoyed scenery. We climbed local hill Javorinka. Tourists like this hill as well as people who do paragliding. There is a ski resort of the same name nearby. What are normally ski slopes in winter are downhill bike tracks in the summer season. There are some other places of interest such as Rajecke Teplice (famous for their spas), a tour of Slovak nativity scene made of wood in Rajecka Lesna. The Sulovske Vrchy is another interesting point of interest about 15 kilometers away making it more demanding trip. Yet our trip was more easy-going. It wasn't long either. At the relax center at Penzion Javorina we spent our evening. Then we had some wonderful experiences with food at the guest house.

On the following day morning, kind staff showed us the offer for interesting traditional-like events. We certainly want to visit such this year. "We wait for you as we are used to – in a folk costume and spirit" is the credo that enveloped our farewells to Cicmany and Javorina guest house that really was good beyond our expectation.

GPS: 48°57'12.2"N 18°30'50.5"E

Text: Oskár Mažgút

Source and photos: PR, Penzion Javorina