(source: Sme Ján Krošlák)
TURZO FESTIVITIES at Slovakia’s most-visited castle, Orava Castle, kicked off the summer tourist season in the Žilina Region toward the end of April. Soon afterwards, several other tourist destinations opened their doors for the season, the TASR newswire wrote.
On April 26 The Gamekeepers Lodge, a museum devoted to Slovakia’s most famous poet Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav was symbolically unlocked. Then on the weekend of April 27 and 28, in a re-enactment, an entourage dressed as tax-collectors led by a man dressed as onetime regional ruler Palatine Turzo marched through the small village which lies below Orava Castle demanding tax payment from a motley group got up as peasants. This was followed by a mass in the St. Michael’s Chapel on both days. The programme also included demonstrations of fencing, duels, jousting tournaments, and medieval games and music, as well as a traditional crafts market. Entry to the courtyard of Orava Castle was free, the Pravda daily wrote.
Other tourist destinations in the region opened on May 1, including Strečno Castle, the Kysuce Open-air Museum in Vychylovka and the international folklore festival in Súľov-Hradná.
