A 24-metre-high wooden tower on the site of the former Powder Tower, along with museums featuring a range of exhibition and hands-on themes: Szendrő can be explored through its history, nature and crafts. When planning your visit, it is worth distinguishing between the focus of each place. This lets you divide your time between exhibitions, history and hands-on activities. Visits to several facilities are subject to seasonal arrangements or require contacting them in advance.
Views and the history of Felsővár
A stylised, 24-metre-high wooden tower was rebuilt on the site of the former Powder Tower of Felsővár and is now used as a lookout tower. From there, the 360-degree panorama extends over the town in the Bódva Valley; the distance you can see depends on visibility. On the lower floor, an exhibition presents the results of archaeological excavations. The views and archaeological finds thus connect the sight of Szendrő with the history of the place.
The events that shaped the tower’s present location can also be clearly placed in time: the Powder Tower of Felsővár was destroyed in an explosion in 1699. In 1707, Prince Ferenc II Rákóczi ordered the castle’s destruction; it was carried out in the same year. The rebuilt tower therefore stands on the site of an earlier structure whose history reaches back to these events.
Museums to explore and experience
At Kincses Ház, the permanent exhibition is titled “A Bódva Völgy Természeti Kincsei”. It presents architectural heritage and the plant and animal life along the Bódva interactively; there is also a short 3D film about the world of caves. The subject brings together nature and the built environment, while the film offers another way to experience the exhibition.
The Kékfestőház Múzeum displays historic tools used in the blue-dyeing craft, which is widespread in Hungary. At the Kékfestő Műhely in the former Csáky Castle, visitors can make their own scented sachet from modern blue-dyed fabric. The sachet is partly prepared: you decorate it with printed patterns, fill it, scent it and sew it closed. Visitors during the seasonal period are asked to get in touch in advance. The museum and workshop offer different experiences: the historic tools take centre stage in one, while the other is about creating something yourself.
The Iskolatörténeti kiállítás builds on the Oktatástörténeti Gyűjtemény, which opened in Szendrő in 1982. At the exhibition, you can try historic school equipment, write with pen and ink, and read and do arithmetic using earlier teaching aids. Visits are seasonal; contact the venue in advance if you plan to include this activity. At the Szend-Erőd élménypark, by contrast, visitors can try historic duelling equipment and a skills course. Check the current visiting arrangements before your visit.
More traces of local history
The Roman Catholic church in Szendrő was built in 1635 as the monastery church of the former Franciscan monastery. Among the exercise equipment in the Tornamúzeum, you can see a pommel horse. The museum has seasonal closures, so contacting it in advance is part of planning your visit. Those interested in a different kind of historic collection will find another place of remembrance at the Jewish cemetery: it is enclosed and maintained, and currently contains 163 gravestones. This number may change.
The attractions range from nature and caves at Kincses Ház to crafts, school history and finds at Felsővár. For a short stay, you can choose one focus or combine different experiences—for example, the exhibition and views at the tower with a visit to the blue-dyeing collection. Keep seasonal visiting arrangements and any requirement to contact venues in advance in mind before making firm plans.
Discover more destinations: Jósvafő, Damak, Becskeháza, Tornabarakony, Irota, Tornaszentandrás, Bódvarákó, Edelény
For the broader travel overview: Edelényi.
