Karpfen: Culture, Educational Trails and Nature

Karpfen leads to a setting where history, literature and landscape stand closely side by side. Krupina combines historic buildings with literary traces and andesite formations.

Culture

The permanent exhibition at the Andrej Sládkovič Museum explores the history of Krupina and its literary figures. A particular focus is placed on the life and work of Andrej Sládkovič and Elena Maróthy-Šoltésová. The museum offers guided tours of the museum, the cellars, and the permanent and temporary exhibitions. The cellar rooms include the Krupina underground vault. It has been open during selected events since 2010; following certain structural modifications, it can be visited as part of a guided tour of the museum exhibition.

The city walls are also among Krupina’s historic traces. They were built between 1551 and 1564 from tuff quarried in the city’s cadastral area. The Turkish Bastion has been used as a municipal amphitheatre since the 1970s and is now called “Amfiteáter Viliama Polónyiho”. Another of the city’s important architectural landmarks is the Halmayho House, built in 1906 for the district’s chief official.

The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary houses a late Gothic winged altar of the Virgin Mary, Queen of the Apostles. The sculptures on this altar date from 1515 to 1520 and come from the workshop of Master MS of Banská Štiavnica.

Nature

Štangarígeľ, also known as Krupinské bralce, is a distinctive landscape formation. The area in Krupina has been designated a national natural monument since 1975 and covers 0.69 hectares. It is characterised by regular pentagonal andesite columns, some of which reach up to 6 metres in height.

Trails and Viewpoints

Vartovka was first mentioned in 1564 and is the oldest surviving lookout tower in Slovakia. The tower was built of stone with a wooden gallery to a height of approximately 13 metres. Vartovka is freely accessible and can be reached from the centre of Krupina by an approximately one-hour walk along a blue-marked route. The stated time is explicitly intended only as an approximate guide.

The “In the Footsteps of Andrej Sládkovič in His Birthplace” route leads to 16 points of interest in Krupina that are closely connected with the life of the Slovak poet. After completing the route at Malý rínok, visitors can continue along the educational trail to Vartovka. Another route, the “In the Footsteps of Sládkovič” educational trail, takes visitors past historic monuments connected with the life of Andrej Sládkovič, as well as natural attractions in the town of Krupina.

The Žibritov educational trail begins in the municipality of Žibritov by the former parish. From there, it runs through the valley of the Bebrava stream to the imposing Štangarígeľ rocks – Krupinské bralce.

Further Places

Dolný Badín, Žibritov, Domaníky, Lišov, Senohrad, Jalšovík, Dolné Mladonice, Súdovce

For the higher-level travel overview: Krupina District.