Bottovo combines a rich local history with a waterside landscape explored along Route 3. Bottovo Reservoir is a named stop on this route; shortly afterwards comes Martinová Reservoir. This means you can structure a visit either around the history of the village or around the sequence of bodies of water and the route itself.

Local history and places of remembrance

Bottovo was founded in 1926 in the cadastral areas of Dubovec, Cakov and Rimavská Seč. The settlers included Slovaks from Orava and Pohronie, as well as Czech colonists from the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands. After the annexation to Hungary in 1938, the Slovak settlers had to leave Bottovo. The founding of the village and the forced departure mark two clearly distinct periods in its history.

Bottovo has a monument to Ivan Krasko. Another local monument stands in the park in front of the cultural centre. These two places add tangible sites of remembrance to the story of the village. A report from 2019 described the ash tree in Bottovo as the last surviving tree from a group of 50 originally planted by local schoolchildren. That same year, it was entered in the Tree of the Year competition.

Reservoirs and Route 3

A brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus) was recorded at Bottovo Reservoir on 27 June 1995. This historical record adds a natural-history aspect to the story of the village. Route 3 leads to the region’s bodies of water and mineral springs, connecting several named places.

The route starts at the Kurinec recreation centre near Rimavská Sobota and runs via Hodejov, Bottovo and the Číž spa to the Teplý vrch recreation centre. From Hodejov, it continues towards Bottovo. Bottovo Reservoir is a named stop; shortly afterwards, the route reaches Martinová Reservoir. Both reservoirs therefore lie along the route between Kurinec and Teplý vrch.

For a specific distance, a cycling trip from Rimavská Sobota via Pavlovce, Bottovo Reservoir and Martinová Reservoir is described as 34 kilometres round trip. The 34 kilometres refers to the round trip on this cycling route; Route 3, by contrast, runs from Kurinec via several places to Teplý vrch. Check local route conditions before setting off.

More destinations nearby

Martinová Reservoir is near Bottovo and is designated as a protected natural area. Číž is home to well-known spas for treating disorders of the musculoskeletal and circulatory systems. Together, these nearby destinations broaden the choice between natural and cultural history: you can make Bottovo itself the focus or include places along the route in your plans. The route’s specific sequence and the destinations’ proximity to one another remain useful points of reference.

Discover more destinations: Jesenské, Budikovany, Včelince, Kráľ, Gemerček, Drňa, Padarovce, Hajnáčka.

For the broader travel overview: Rimavská Sobota District.