The Devil's Viaduct near Tisovec. (source: Branislav Caban/TASR)
Read the story about Tisovec, first published in our very first issue in 1995.
After surviving years of economic drought, the Tisovec region of central Slovakia is finding a promising way out of its slump. Tourism seems to be the answer as local authorities take aim at generously-spending visitors for its main source of economic activity.After surviving years of economic drought, the Tisovec region of central Slovakia is finding a promising way out of its slump. Tourism seems to be the answer as local authorities take aim at generously-spending visitors for its main source of economic activity.
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“When it comes to natural surroundings, Tisovec is fairly comparable to any average, same-sized Swiss town,” the Tisovec-born piano virtuoso Marián Lapšanský stated some five years ago.
The last two years have confirmed his words convincingly. After experiencing countless years on the fringe of communist authorities’ attention, central Slovakia passed through a period when everything related to tourism was stun-gunned and close to certain death. Then 1992 put an end to the drought, and the region displayed its first signs of economic recovery.
“In the last two years, we experienced a boom of tourists coming mainly from Hungary and Poland,” Peter Minač, the mayor of Tisovec, said.
Hungarians seem to have rediscovered the natural attractions of their once traditional vacation destination.
A school as a tourist bureau
But few Westerners have shown up so far. And when they have, they have come to work. Over 220 American Lutherans took part in renovating an old evangelical high school in the town two years ago.
Helena Pašiaková, the school’s principal, remembers.
“Renovation started in March 1993 and was finished by September 1994,” Pašiaková said. “Our American friends from the Lutheran Laymen’s League in St. Louis really were of great help to our effort. Sometimes I even felt awkward seeing a bunch of our people watching their American counterparts doing the dirty work.”
An evangelical high school in Tisovec. (source: Branislav Caban/TASR)
Then, remembering the Slovak-Americans who helped erect the original structure, Pašiaková said, “Interestingly enough, this school was originally built in 1928 from financial contributions by our American compatriots. And it was renovated last year with their help again.”
The school is bilingual, with six native English-speakers on the staff. First year students take 20 hours of English per week and then start taking regular lessons in both Slovak and English. German and French are offered, giving credence to claims that Tisovec is serious about preparing for a competitive and sound tourist industry.
“But we work as if we were a tourist bureau already,” Pašiaková quipped about her school’s staff. “Almost every Westerner who comes anywhere near here pops and asks for some information. We’ve gotten used to providing it.”
The Tisovec Town Hall. (source: TASR)
Substituting a teaching staff for a tourist bureau, however, is rather impractical. That, along with an anticipated increase in Western visitors, was one of the reasons behind founding a local travel agency called TIS-travel January 31. One of three founders is the municipality of Tisovec.
“This was mainly to display the town’s understanding of the need for developing the tourist industry in the region,” Mináč said. “We are preparing for it.”
Tisovec’s surroundings also have much to offer. Situated on the southern edge of Muránska planina, a protected forest with unique fauna and flora, the town acts as a gateway to a small paradise.
Finding an untouched, virgin slice of nature, such as the plush Javorníková valley, is nothing unusual here. There are at least 196 calcic caves and 17 abysses in Muránska planina alone.
A new railway platform in Tisovec. (source: Branislav Caban/TASR)
The towns of Brezno, Revúca and Tisovec established a regional centre of agro-tourism – an increasingly popular kind of natural vacationing – in Rejkovo, just outside Tisovec. An annual dog-sled race will debut this month in Zbojská, 10 km to the northwest. And for those who are truly sick of civilization, the Dobroč primeval forest is some 15 km west of Zbojská.
Save the cog-railway
“One of our biggest attractions is certainly the cog-railway from Tisovec to Brezno,” Mináč said. “Aside from a similar railway in Tanvald, in the Czech Republic, it is the only one in all of Central Europe, which makes it unique on a European scale.”
This engineering monument was built throughout the years 1839-96 and was used primarily for transporting iron ore from Tisovec to Podbrezová. Since the railway has several extremely steep sections, it was equipped with a cog-rail. But in 1965, Tisovec’s blast-furnaces flamed out and with it came the end of industrial goods being shipped on the 30-km railway. Since then, it has served only tourists, who can enjoy beautiful views from the two bridges, one reaching as high as 36 m above the ground.
A railway track in the Zbojská saddle near Tisovec. (source: Branislav Caban/TASR)
A threat to the rail surfaced in 1993. Transportation ministry authorities decided that the rail could no longer be profitable and decided to close it down.
“But they seem to have forgotten that it’s not the Brezno-Tisovec railway alone they would be closing down,” said Mayor Mináč.
From Tisovec, the railway continues to Jesenské, a town some 10 km away from the Hungarian border. Since the Slovak government claims the need for development within the Central European Free Trade Agreement, the railway connection could become an important cog in their decision. If it were cut out, Hungarian tourists from around Miskolc would have to reach the Low Tatras via either Zvolen or Košice.
“Besides, as yet no one has proven the railway’s inefficiency with industrial goods,” said Mináč. “That would be the easiest way of making the railway profitable again – re-establish goods traffic. Otherwise, attempts to close it down will continue as they did 1994 and do this year.”
The region has another unique railway resurrection to its credit – the Čierny Hron narrow-differential railway just 25 km away from Tisovec. A group of concerned green activists was awarded the prestigious international Ford’s prize for their restoration efforts last year.
A sign indicating Šťavica, a recreational area in the town of Tisovec. (source: Branislav Caban/TASR)
“The only thing that’s missing to meet this challenge is a suitable historical type of locomotive,” Mináč said.
“They used to have a wreck of this type in Hungary, but as soon as we became interested in it, they had it renovated and – no wonder – now want to keep it. We know about another one like it in Romania. We want to acquire it. Negotiations have already started. If we succeed, we’ll have to unique tourist-oriented railways in this region,” he added.
Whether the old and stylish locomotive will be arousing a buzz along the cog railway has yet to be determined. But it seems that the buzz generated from more tourists to Tisovec and to the region could soon be waking up the neighbours.
NOTE: Peter Mináč served as mayor in the years 1990-2018. Helena Pašiaková is the evangelical high school’s emeritus principal.
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