Open air museums Košický kraj

The archaeological open-air museum in the village of Nižná Myšľa is situated in a location considered one of the richest archaeological sites in our country recording prehistoric settlements. Among the sites, Skalka was mentioned first, followed by Alamenev, Koscelek, Moľva, Prepoštstvo, and Váhreď (Varhégy).

Replicas of original dwellings from the Early and Middle Bronze Age, which disappeared around 1400 BC, are built in the last-mentioned site. The first archaeological research began as early as 1948, and systematic research has been underway since 1977. Approximately 2,300 vessels and 5,000 stone, bone, and bronze objects with various purposes were found. Archaeological artifacts are displayed in the municipal museum located in the historical building of a 13th-century manor house.

The complex of two settlements and a burial ground, which together form the archaeological site, is located south behind the village of Nižná Myšľa on a small hill at an altitude of 217 m above sea level. Fortified Settlement I represents the oldest settlement of the Ottoman-Füzesabony culture. The settlement measured 50 x 60 m with an entrance via a wooden-and-stone structure. Dwellings had wooden walls and a clay-smeared floor. Log-built houses also featured raised hearths. The settlement had an agricultural and craft character; objects made of antler, bronze, stone, and various clay sculptures were discovered here.

Fortified Settlement II was established as a result of population growth and expanded into an area of 8 hectares with a stone, earth, and wood rampart. Houses, including farm buildings, were log-built. The settlement was a cult center where various bloody cultic rituals were performed. Mostly animals were sacrificed, though human sacrifices occurred exceptionally. Settlers engaged in pottery, bone and antler processing, and non-ferrous metalworking.

In the burial ground located 200 meters from the settlement, more than 900 graves were discovered, with each containing numerous grave goods. Burials were carried out in a crouched position facing east, with women lying on their left side and men on their right side. Warriors, farmers, craftsmen, and hunters had wooden supports, remnants of wooden coffins, or even two-part sarcophagi in their graves.

You can reach the site via two color-marked trails: the blue cycling trail or the red hiking trail. This is a comprehensive showcase, so it is advisable to set aside plenty of time to explore not only the open-air museum, but also the entire surroundings of Košice and its attractions. We recommend booking suitable accommodation in the surrounding area on the accommodation Košice page, and then simply planning your trip.

Banský skanzen is built in the village of Hnilčík, in the spišskonovoveský okres district. Like many others, this village was once ranked among the mining villages of the southern Spiš region. The open-air museum was established in 2012 on the initiative of a local civic association. The museum is a declared Národná kultúrna pamiatka.

The open-air museum consists of three parts: the museum exhibition, the Štôlňa Ľudmila adit, and educational montane trails. The museum exhibition, located in the premises of the former school in the Jerohuta local part, is divided into thematic units. These focus on the history of the village of Hnilčík, ethnography and the material heritage of ancestors, geological structure and wildlife, the history of mining, and the processing of local ores. The building where the exhibition is located dates back to 1937 and served as a school until 1972. It is protected as a national cultural monument and is very valuable for its original architectural solution.

The Štôlňa Ľudmila adit is part of the open-air museum as an underground exhibition. It is a mining tunnel that was a purposeful mining work. At its end, there is an explosives storage. The space served as a warehouse until the end of ore extraction (the 1930s) and was subsequently abandoned.

The educational monetary trails will lead you through a pleasant natural environment. These are the following routes: route A Jerohuta - Roztoky, route B Bindt, route C Kira – Štolvek – Suchá hora - Grétla, route D Údolím Železného potoka. The mentioned routes will also introduce visitors to many other monuments that mining left behind in the Hnilčík cadastre. These include numerous miners' dwellings, the ruins of the iron ore processing plant and roasting plant in Bindt, authentic gunpowder storage facilities, former administrative and residential buildings of the mining plant in Bindt, the complex of authentic administrative and residential buildings of the mining plant in Roztokách, adit portals from the 18th and 19th centuries, the mining bell tower in Bindt, as well as the remains of railway bodies and bridges of the Markušovce – Roztoky and Markušovce – Bindt railways.

Come and discover the mining history of this beautiful region. However, one day will definitely not be enough for you. On our pages accommodation Hnilčík, you will find the right accommodation for you to fully enjoy your sightseeing stay among the attractions of Spiš and not stress about whether you will catch the train departure or not.