SK, Piestany – Home of Health and Beauty IV

The Bridge of Eternal Love is the place for lovers to lock their love. It is a colorful place popular not only among the young. Around there is colorful flora, a fountain and be sure to notice the Jalta - Eden hotel complex. It consists of two functionalism era buildings. Unfortunately, we didn't take the lock of love with us. Therefore, upon some short sightseeing we moved on..

The pedestrian zone is situated in long, waved street lined with many terraces offering rich variety of foods or sweet deserts. What caught our attention was large quantity of tourists from the Arab lands.
   
After we bought our souvenirs, visited clothing butiques and ice cream stands, we stepped inside the former spa directorate. It it the oldest functioning building in the city. Once, there was an inn for nobility. Today, several companies reside on the address. The so called Green Tree is close to the directorate. It is actually an opulent palace type building. In the past, its tenant was Ludovit Winter, the director of the spa. Later, the buidlng operated a hotel or a medicinal house.

   
We walked down one street at the end of the pedestrian zone which got us onto Svoboda Square. This area is regular venue of concerts and social events. A long fountain is the main feature of the square next to stores and cafes.

   
Adjacent to the square there is a well-known shopping center. Behind the mall, there is a modernist Roman-Catholic church of St Cyril and Methodus. Should you take the road down to the river bank, you reach the Krajinsky Bridge, a decorated cultural sight. The bridge was constructed between the years 1930 and 1931. Reinforced concrete was used as its construction material. Side arches and bottom arches are the main features of this bridge, once considered the most daring bridge construction in Czechoslovakia. Crossing the bridge gets you over the river Vah.

Here you can watch the spa island from the opposite side. Visiting Banka town and the St Martin church which was constructed in the 13th century or the famous Moravany nad Vahem village, the place where the Moravanaska Venus was discovered among other important archeological discoveries. There is also a renaissance chateau or the permanent exhibition of the Classi Car Museum.

If you don't make the trip we suggested above, you can walk along the riverbank until you reach the Colonnade bridge. It makes sort of a border of two worlds – the world of the city and the world of the spas. In a week of time we cross this bridge, visit the spa, a mini-zoo, see a famous painting and many many other things.

GPS: 48°35'21.2"N 17°50'03.7"E
Text and photos: Oskár Mažgút