Hrušov Castle in Tríbeč Mountains (source: One2We)
Baťa. Novesta. Walter Fischer.
In 1939, Jan Antonín Baťa, the Slovak Henry Ford, established the Baťa shoe production factory.
Over the next several years, a town, Partizánske, grew up around the factory.
He didn’t anticipate, many years later, that Baťa shoes would walk the streets of Istanbul or Tokyo.
Novesta, established in the same year, didn't anticipate becoming a hipster and street style sneaker love brand, beloved even by Madonna’s brother.
Also that year, Walter Fischer, a Baťa factory employee, decided to take a walk to the Black Castle. He didn’t come back and was found several months later, bewildered and with numerous burns. He couldn’t have anticipated his story would offer inspiration to writers, filmmakers, conspiracy theories fans and curious tourists.
Partizánske, the 80-year-old town, gazes at an unassuming and mysterious mountain range.
These mountains, located an hour from Bratislava, overlook three other towns Nitra, Zlaté Moravce and Topolčany.
They thrust into the Podunajská nížina lowlands to the south.
They greeting to the north their brothers, the extinct volcanos, Vtáčnik and Považský Inovec, and rub shoulders with the volcanic Štiavnické vrchy mountains to the west.
Tríbeč mountains
Grown to the height of 835m, with a ridge length of 50km and a width of 20km.
From the bicycle saddle, raidable within one day.
In hiking boots, surmountable within two.
Imagine all the beauty offered by the 36 marked 200km long hiking trails!
Caves, rifts and chasms call for curiosity and carefulness.
Herds of moufflons inspire Nikons, Canons, iPhones, Samsungs or GoPros in the hands of visitors to take the finest pictures and videos.
Strong walls of medieval castles scattered liberally sing romantic stories, and in their interior, the voice of Matúš Čák Trenčiansky, ancient lord of this region, speaks aloud.
Ancient settlements of mystic Celtic and Dacian tribes uncover the art of gold mining and minting.
Abandoned homesteads of earlier German settlers sadly still hold their passion for farming, fruit growing and mining.
Neighboring manor houses invite people over for a cup of tea, accompanied by the silhouette of the former Czechoslovak president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk.
But why is this mountain range so shadowed in secrets?
Locals believe in a supernatural power dwelling in the forest.
The Tríbeč triangle or the hills of mystery are its nicknames.
Over the years, many have disappeared in these mountains. A woodsman Šamsaly, 18-year-old Mary Švajzerová, the married couple Belanovič. Names of people who never came home and were included in The Slovak X Files.
Mystic and secret stories are attractive.
Let’s discover the secrets of the Tríbeč mountains, following Albert Einstein’s words: “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious”.
One2We is an incoming company concentrating on active, adventure, bike and sport tours in Slovakia, a unique, authentic and safe country, far away from mass tourism. It offers undiscovered and amazing places, tailored-made solutions and very professional individual guiding.
