SK, Kalameny – A Village of Natural Riches and Tourist Attractions

Because we love making discoveres, this time we chose the tiny village of Kalameny. It is not known among tourists. But there are many interesting places to see. It is easy to get to the village. It is located near the spa town of Lucky. Except for healing water the town has – Lucansky waterfall , a unique natural sight that was declared a national natural sight in 1974. Near Lucky, there is a turn to Kalameny. If we find accommodation in Lucky then you can get to the neighboring village by following a marked tourist path.

Kalameny village is surrounded with the Chocke Hills forests. It is in the Ruzomberok district. The village has 475 dwellers. You can find it in the valley of the same name which was created by the Kalamenianka river. The first written note about the town dates back to 1264. when a man called Kelemen became the owner. His name gave the foundation for the village’s name. Liptovsky castle’s (Starhrad) foundation is also related to the village. The castle used to be on the Sestrc hill (today in the country of Liptovska Sielnica). It was the highest positioned royal castle in Slovakia (999,96 m). A yellow tourist trail goes there. Archeological excavations pointed to the fact that this castle was very unique architecture-wise. However, its exact look hasn’t been preserved but village’s coat of arms would give you some perspective. Today only ruins remain. Below the hill of Sestrc there is also a cave that was settled in Chalcolithic age already.

We decided to take a walk in the town instead climbing the mountains. There were picturesque family houses and we stopped by at a Roman-Catholic church with beautiful decoration.

Perhaps the most popular sight in Kalameny is a thermal lake . It is located near the village and was created artificially in the year 200. Its healing water heals human organism. The lake seemed very natural and when we get into it we were surprised by the temperature. About 33 degrees Celsius and slight sulfur aroma created the true spa atmosphere. Other about ten people were enjoying it with us together. This “natural” creation is about 500 meters deep. Access here is for free and all-year round.

Kalameny was fascinating experience. The village has beautiful mountains around, healing water, and a castle ruin. We even found the Cyril and Metod nature trail. Except for information about these two missionaries, it connects frequented trails going up to Velky Choc and Liptovsky castle. From there another trail goes to the Havranok open-air museum. If you like to have experiences and you enjoy tourism then we recommend you to visit this village.

GPS (Kalameny – jezírko): 49°07'59.8"N 19°25'11.0"E

Text and photo: Oskár Mažgút