The entrance to Vlkolínec. (source: Romana Vicianová)
From one checkout to another. For three years now, tourists have been experiencing unpleasant situations before entering the historical hillside settlement of Vlkolínec, a UNESCO World Heritage site listed for its folk architecture.
Visitors there pay different entrance fees to two associations for different packages of services, being asked for €2 at one cash register, and €3 at another – with little explanation of why.
However, the confusion over which entrance fee and services to pay for in Vlkolínec now seems to be about to end. The town of Ružomberok, the local municipal authority, has presented a new model for the functioning of the UNESCO site. It means a uniform selection of entrance fees for all exhibitions in Vlkolínec. The town hall has not yet specified what the amount will be and who will be responsible for collecting it.
A bizarre situation
Two civil associations have been collecting separate entrance fees for the last three years. They differed in their opinions about how to divide the income.
Originally, only one civic association, OZ Vlkolínec, was collecting an entrance fee, designed to cover the cost of basic amenities. But some disaffected members left to create a new association, Vlkolínec UNESCO. Both entities now collect different fees on separate leased plots for parking fees and exhibitions.
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When the MY Liptov regional newspaper visited Vlkolínec, its reporters were asked to pay €3 in the parking lot on the right, which belongs to the original association. The price was supposed to include entrance to the farmstead, a farm house that belongs to the Liptovské Museum, and a visit to the granary.
The Vlkolínec UNESCO Civic association maintains a parking lot on the left side of the road, for which reporters had to pay €2. That price included a visit to the gallery, which is a former school in Vlkolínec.
"They really can't solve it? It's all laughable. We've been coming here for years, but our appetite is fading because of the atmosphere and strained relationships. It casts a bad shadow over the settlement," complained a visitor from Zvolen.
She is not alone in her dissatisfaction; the strained relations between locals are also reflected in the services offered.
They agreed with the new model
The city of Ružomberok has a negative view of the issue of two ticket offices at the entrance to Vlkolínec. The mayor of Ružomberok, Ľubomír Kubáň, presented the concept of the further direction and intentions of the city towards the monument reserve of folk architecture. They based the new operating model on a single entrance fee for all exhibitions in Vlkolínec, which all operators agreed to.
There should also be a novelty for visitors: the possibility of a guided tour. This is supported by the regional tourism organisation and the Ružomberok Information Centre. The goal of the town hall is to introduce this new concept as soon as possible.
A spokesperson for the city of Ružomberok, Vladimír Miškovčík, explained that discussions with residents of Vlkolínec encompassed other problems that have been bothering them for some time, including reconstruction of the village waste water and sewage treatment plant, construction of public toilets, repairs to the village road and parking facilities.
Vlkolínec has been included on the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage List for 30 years.
It is a monument reserve of folk architecture, preserved as a residential complex, consisting of typical log buildings of the characteristic central European type. The settlement represents a type of medieval village settlement with wooden architecture of mountain and foothill areas.
©MY Liptov
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