Seasonal rafting on the Dunajec and the medieval Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary give Spišská Stará Ves two distinct points of interest. From the town, tourists travel on wooden rafts through the Dunajec Canyon from spring until autumn; at the same time, the town lies within the protected zone of Pieninský národný park. When planning your trip, you can choose from river experiences, architecture, painting and regional folklore. The rafting season is a practical factor when choosing your travel dates; the town’s historical and artistic themes offer further ways to explore the place.
The Dunajec and the Pieniny: choosing when to visit
From Spišská Stará Ves, tourists can travel every year on wooden rafts through the Dunajec Canyon from spring until autumn. Along the way, they can see limestone cliffs and rock walls several hundred metres high, rising directly from the river. The river route and its geology shape the natural character of this destination. If rafting is your main reason for visiting, choose a date within the season and check the current schedule before you travel. If you are more interested in church art, painting and history, the themes below offer other reasons to choose this town.
Gothic architecture and art in Spišská Stará Ves
The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was built as a two-aisled Gothic church in the second half of the 14th century. Its Gothic presbytery, two Gothic portals and windows with original tracery have been preserved. The presbytery is the choir area of the church; the two-aisled layout refers to the division of the nave. These terms draw attention both to the spatial form and to the surviving details. The furnishings include a late Baroque main altar dating from 1765 and a painting of a seated Madonna from 1490. The dates reveal several historical layers: the Gothic structure, the Madonna painting and the altar, which was added later.
Another artistic highlight is the Galéria Ferdinanda Kleinbergera Katonu, a permanent exhibition of the Tatranská galéria in Poprad. It includes 50 oil paintings and 30 drawings by Ferdinand Katona and presents nearly a hundred selected works by the artist. The landscapes depict the Spiš region and the High Tatras. The exhibition therefore offers a different focus from the church: here, the emphasis is on an artist’s works and their landscape motifs, while the church highlights architectural forms and individual historical furnishings.
Folklore and local history
The FS Maguranka folklore ensemble regularly takes part in the Zamagurské folklórne slávnosti and in various cultural and social events in Spišská Stará Ves and the surrounding area, both near and farther afield. During the tourist rafting season in the Pieniny, the ensemble presents Gorol folklore and the custom of the bridal cap ceremony. If you would like to include a performance in your plans, check the date of the event in advance. As a historical reference point, the 41st Zamagurské folklórne slávnosti were held in June 2017 at the amphitheatre in Spišská Stará Ves.
The plague and cholera cemetery also commemorates two events that took place at different times. It was established after the devastating plague epidemic of 1710. In the same burial ground, 71 victims of the cholera epidemic were interred in 1831, 121 years later. This sequence connects the cemetery’s establishment with a later burial without conflating the two events.
Getting there
Class II road II/542 runs from Spišská Belá through Slovenská Ves and Spišská Stará Ves. This sequence of place names provides a useful point of reference when planning your road journey. When choosing your travel dates, you can also consider whether the seasonal rafting or the architecture, art and history will be the deciding factor.
Discover more destinations: Veľká Lomnica, Malý Slavkov, Lendak, Majere, Zakovce, Lechnica, Stara Lesna, Mlynceky.
See the overview of the wider area: Okres Kežmarok.
