THE  

TURIEC REGION

Surrounded by very picturesque mountains of the Fatra range, in the northern Slovakia lays very peculiar and hence also attractive region called the Turiec.

This is a hollow, a river, a wreath made of ruffled mountains and rocky hills, a natural area composed of fields, meadows, the dark greenery of spruce and pine forests. For all these attributes the people living here have termed this region "The Turcianska Zahrada" garden. What justifies this epithet is the abundance of natural beauties, picturesque scenes of deep valleys projecting into bizarre limestone and dolomite walls, dense forests abounding with trophy game, meadows and mountain pastures with varied and rare flora, crystalline dear torrents harboring trout, grayling and huchen, a genuine oasis of tranquility and peace.

This chanted, praised region, inhabited already in the Late Stone Age, Early Bronze Age, Latin and Roman times, as archeological finding testify a region abounding with relics of popular art, had been very poor in the past. Hence apart of its population carded its living by oil selling and a part immigrated to faraway lands. By its transformations this region belongs at present to the most remarkable ones in the Slovak Republic.

In its metropolis Martin, the highest Slovak cultural institution Matica Slovenska has its head office.

Over the time the charming valleys of the Turiec have changed into vivid, frequented centers of tourism.

They include the mountain pastures of Martin, Jasenska and Kantorska dolina valleys, the canyon like valleys Gaderska and Blatnicka, the attractive southern hillsides of the Mala Fatra mountains and the cherished Turcianske Teplice, a spa with abundant thermal springs. Natural beauties are coupled also with many relics of cultural history.

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Published in the Slovak Heritage Live newsletter Volume 1, No. 2, Summer 1993

Copyright © Vladimir Linder 1993 
3804 Yale Street, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5C 1P6
The above article and photographs may not be copied, reproduced, republished, or redistributed by any means including electronic, without the express written permission of Vladimir Linder. All rights reserved.