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An archaeological open-air museum in the extinct settlement of Šoldov near Štrba will open. The village is building it by more or less using its own money.
“In this locality there is also a bridge, a well and the foundations of an original church,” said mayor of Štrba, Michal Sýkora, as quoted by the TASR newswire. They also renovated the road leading from the village to Šoldov. Their dream is to rebuild the church. Other buildings could be added later.
Part of the project is building a lookout tower that would offer a beautiful view of Šoldov, Štrba and a panorama of the High Tatras, the mayor added.
They want to create a museum
The aim of the local authority is to create a museum to map the history of Šoldov. They want to create the artefacts they found while researching this area.
“We would like to have the precious objects found here displayed in our village, not in Nitra,” the mayor said, as quoted by TASR.
Archaeological research in Šoldov took place in 2013, organised by the Archaeological Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Nitra.
Gradually, from the sediments of soil and rock foundations of the sacral construction with a nearby cemetery, they found a fortification composed of double fosses and embankments. They also found two residential structures from the settlement east of the fortified church, explained the research director Marián Soják. He added that the found artefacts, such as fragments, various metal objects, especially coins and organic remains, allow to delimit he existence of Šoldov from the 13th to 15th century.
He added that a smaller archaeological open-air museum lacking in the Spiš region and Šoldov will be a perfect place for them.
What legend says
Village used to have several hectares and within Slovakia, according to Soják, there is probably not such a big extinct settlement.
Tradition says that the inhabitants of Šoldov were heavily built, large and tall people, almost giants. The truth is that except for two skeletons found during the archaeological research that were about two metres tall, they found only skeletons of normal length."
“Šoldov is really a very strange and rare place that has its own spirit. All it takes is to sit on a bench, either during the day or at night, relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere of history. It is assumed that the settling of this area started here and it can be felt,” the mayor summed up, as quoted by TASR.
27. Nov 2019 at 14:46 | TASR, Compiled by Spectator staff
