Thieves spent 45 minutes stealing the statue in Kežmarok which had stood for almost half a century beneath the now-defunct ski resort in Kežmarok Despite tracking down the thieves using CCTV footage municipal police were unable to recover the 200kg statue According to Kežmarok’s municipal police chief the perpetrators dismantled the statue and sold it for scrap before authorities could intervene The statue was last seen in place on February 4 with surveillance footage confirming its presence we traced two vehicles arriving at the site The thieves spent 45 minutes dismantling the statue before driving towards the town centre.” police identified the van’s registration number and linked it to a rental company leading them to the suspects—five individuals from the nearby village of Veľká Lomnica “They hacked the statue into small pieces and handed it over for scrap first thing in the morning,” Šipula said “They received about €580 for it.” Authorities are now investigating the theft “The five suspects have been questioned as part of the proceedings,” Prešov regional police spokesperson Jana Ligdayová said “Further investigative steps are being carried out and we are unable to provide more details at this time.” Which language would you like to use this site in Amnesty International researcher on Slovakia and Lenka Machlicová For the villages of north-eastern Slovakia’s Kežmarok district nestled beneath the snow-capped High Tatra Mountains On a recent visit it wasn’t the weather that sent shivers down our spines but the grim reality that many Romani children are still being segregated in local schools We returned to five villages in the region last week after a previous visit in 2012 to see if anything had changed for Romani residents there, three years after a landmark judgment found that a school in Slovakia discriminated against Romani children by segregating them from their classmates the only change has been from bad to worse It seems that after the 2012 court ruling condemning unlawful segregation of Romani pupils but it is actually taking on even more severe forms Not only are Romani children being segregated in different classes but in some cases they now face the prospect of attending “container schools” but from almost anybody from the non-Roma population placement of schools and other services is tricky and risks leading to isolation Most of its residents are not in formal employment and don’t really have reasons to leave them but for schools and occasional doctor’s visits The container schools are built from material resembling shipping containers and consist of a large one- or two-storey building with flat roof and inner space limited to corridors and classrooms they are much cheaper than building brick and mortar schools Although some of the mayors we spoke to were concerned about adequacy of the containers for the cold climate in the High Tatra region the main problem of this project is the location of these schools An inevitable result of placing them directly to Romani settlements or neighbourhoods will be ethnic segregation The pupils will rarely go outside the settlement and most of their social relations will be contained in them nowhere was the worsening segregation more visible than in the village of Ostrovany The village doesn’t have its own mainstream school and Romani children were enrolled either in the local special school or in a mainstream school in the nearby village of Šarišské Michaľany It was this school that the court found to have violated anti-discrimination legislation in 2012 Romani pupils continue to be separated from their non-Roma classmates in this school the municipality of Ostrovany plans to build a “container school” directly in the settlement the children will be effectively cut off from the rest of society Although the 2012 ruling addressed the situation in only one village Romani children have been segregated in Roma-only schools and classes in many locations in eastern Slovakia Instead of dealing with this unlawful situation upfront in 2013 the authorities introduced the so-called “container schools” It was supposed to be a quick fix to the problem of low school capacities and the high number of incoming some of the schools to which the children used to commute started fusing outright to register new Romani pupils using the capacity argument This further accelerated the panic on some of the villages resulting in a decision to quickly construct their own schools It has been mounting over the past decade while the authorities have failed to tackle it Last week we visited four of the six villages in Kežmarok district which have been affected by low school capacities “container schools” were already up and running the sound of children’s laughter and conversations filled the air during the breaks But the striking feature of these schools was their ethnic homogeneity – all the children were Roma the Roma children are cut off from the society outside of their settlement as the school was built directly in their settlement Plans are already under way to place “container schools” in at least three other Roma settlements in other locations Some of the parents we spoke to worried that separation from non-Roma will affect the quality of their children’s education as well as their future prospects “When the children finish the 9th grade here they would have been more ambitious,” one Romani mother “If all the classmates of our children are another Romani pupils how can we expect them to mingle and integrate with the non-Roma once they move on to the secondary school?,” Imrich whose children attend a high school in the town of Kežmarok the physical separation has consequences reaching beyond education Jozef lives in a settlement nearly two kilometres away from the village of Rakúsy The settlement is becoming more and more isolated from village life We go to the village only when we need to arrange something in the municipality.” a Milan and his friends in the fourth grade were bussed daily from Stráne pod Tatrami to a municipal Roma-only school inside a building in the town of Kežmarok Milan lives in a settlement 500m from the village so the bus ride was a rare opportunity to meet non-Roma people a container school was opened in his settlement While the boys were generally happy that they have it closer to home Milan told us he misses his rides to the town Most of the non-Roma enrolled their children in schools elsewhere which led to the local schools becoming ethnically homogeneous Although the authorities spoke of “segregation” many times during our conversations they did so only with dismissive and sarcastic undertones arguing that segregation was inevitable due to demographic trends As if equal treatment for all ethnicities was not a legal obligation but some form of luxury such an approach significantly contributes to an environment where complete ethnic separation becomes a reality Pseudonyms have been used in this blog to protect the identities of the individuals interviewed Together we can fight for human rights everywhere Your donation can transform the lives of millions If you are talented and passionate about human rights then Amnesty International wants to hear from you Slovakia (AP) — Monika Krcova did not want to follow the official guidelines and remain in the hospital in Slovakia for four days after her third baby's birth she tells horror stories about giving birth in the hospital: How doctors at the Kezmarok hospital in eastern Slovakia slapped her face and legs repeatedly during the delivery of her first two children screaming that she didn't know how to push properly Krcova knew that hospital staffers would stop her and her baby if she tried to leave after two days when the doors of the maternity ward were unlocked Slovakia's Ministry of Health strongly recommends four-day stays for mothers and babies But many hospitals — seeking insurance reimbursements — have turned that guidance into a mandate An investigation by The Associated Press has found that women and their newborns in Slovakia are routinely unjustifiably and illegally detained in hospitals across the European Union country vulnerable to racist abuse and physical violence and mothers who leave hospitals before doctors grant permission forfeit their right to a significant government childbirth allowance of several hundred euros When Krcova returned to pick up her infant a couple of days after she left the hospital charged her 20 euros ($23) — an illegal fine "It felt like punishment," she said "If you and your baby are healthy and you have to stay there "Detention in African hospitals is about money it's about power," said Zuzana Kriskova "Women are having their fundamental human rights violated when they have no freedom of movement and cannot decide how their child is to be treated." the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says women with no delivery problems can be discharged with their babies after one to two days Britain recommends women and their infants stay for at least six hours after an uncomplicated birth International human rights law prohibits the forced detention of a woman or her baby after she has given birth as long as there is no imminent danger to anyone say babies must be kept in the hospital because numerous screening tests are needed The Ministry of Health said they are currently considering shortening the required period of post-birth hospitalization to three days but that new mothers "should follow the instructions of the attending physician" on issues including when they and their newborns are allowed to go home "I know of no medical evidence to justify what's being done to women and their newborns in Slovakia," said Mindy Roseman a global health and human rights expert at Yale Law School "They're basically being kidnapped and unlawfully detained." Hospitals and insurance play a central role Several hospital staffers said institutions often only get reimbursed if mothers and babies stay for at least four days after delivery Slovakia's biggest private health insurance provider said it reimburses hospitals separately for mothers and newborns and that the minimum length of stay after childbirth for both is four days It said mothers can leave earlier if they have a signed application approved by the hospital The situation weighs most heavily on Roma (also known Having suffered from discrimination across Europe for generations they say they are treated abysmally by hospitals Numerous Roma women who fled hospitals told the AP they were tied up and beaten or ignored when they needed medical attention Some said there were often two women and babies squeezed into a single bed; others said the health care staff laughed at them saying they were dirty and had too many children fearing retribution from local authorities they treat us worse than dogs," said Krcova who was only allowed to see her newborn babies two days after they were born She is no longer afraid of her local hospital since she isn't planning to have more children who she says was also slapped by nurses when she previously gave birth and is now pregnant again One Roma woman tearfully told the AP that when she escaped from Kezmarok hospital after giving birth to twins four years ago she got sick and couldn't retrieve them for 10 days the institution had given away her baby boy and girl to an orphanage fearing the hospital would refuse to treat her family said there are usually about three such cases every year in the village where she works said Roma babies left in a hospital can be sent to an orphanage but only "rarely." She also acknowledged that nurses do strike Roma women during delivery Siva insisted that her remarks had been misinterpreted "It's absolutely impossible for the Roma patients to be slapped or humiliated in any other way," she said "Our patients are not distinguished by the color of their skin or their religious belief There's no segregation in the Kezmarok hospital whatsoever four out of 17 newborns were still being detained after their mothers absconded Siva said Roma mothers fleeing the hospital after birth was "an everyday occurrence" and that mothers were charged 4 euros ($4.60) every day their baby was held in the mother's absence Officials at several other hospitals in the region estimated that about 10 to 25 percent of Roma women slip out of the hospital within two days of giving birth Some doctors said Roma women were taking advantage of the situation head of gynecology and obstetrics at the J.A said Roma women worry that their husbands will be unfaithful: "They run away to be with their men They know their babies will be taken care of here so they leave them." the Slovak government passed a law that penalizes women who leave the hospital after birth without permission by withholding social benefits payments of up to 800 euros ($914) Critics say the law unfairly targets Roma women who are disproportionately affected by the penalty privileged Slovak women complain they have been imprisoned by hospitals after giving birth Renata Kupcova Kazimirova had her daughter Sona in early November But when she informed the head of obstetrics that she wanted to leave with her baby the following day "They told me that a woman after birth does not have the capacity to make this decision," Kazimirova said "And they told my husband: 'There is no way this baby is leaving.'" During the next three days Kazimirova and her husband clashed repeatedly with doctors who threatened to call the police and social services if the couple left with their newborn "I was crying constantly," Kazimirova said "I didn't have the ability to protect my daughter and bring her home." women who want to leave the hospital before obtaining doctors' approval are to be given a legal form to sign acknowledging they are leaving the hospital against medical advice "If a woman keeps insisting that she wants to leave that's when the psychological terror starts," said Zuzana Kostkova a midwife at a Bratislava university hospital 'what if there's a problem with the baby's heart?' and they will refuse to bring the (legal) form she has to sign." it was impossible for any woman to leave the hospital before doctors agreed To avoid Slovakia's obligatory hospital detention period after birth Kostkova simply had her baby across the border in Austria a Roma woman now pregnant with her seventh child said she cried for days every time she was forced to remain in the hospital after birth terrified the hospital would alert the police if she left "I was told to stay in the hospital," she said "and so I endured it for my baby." Karel Janicek in Prague contributed to this report Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information on the edge of the village of Huncovce in the Kezmarok district of eastern Slovakia Populist voices have sowed discontent that’s now entrenched The region got more than €500 billion since joining the EU in 2004 but income disparities have bred discontent that’s now entrenched XLinkedInEmailLinkGiftFacebookXLinkedInEmailLinkGiftBy and April 30 2024 at 12:00 AM EDTBookmarkSaveZakovce in eastern Slovakia is the definition of a backwater its sewage system works and nearby factories churning out auto parts and appliances helped more than halve the unemployment rate in the region The village, though, also encapsulates how 20 years of EU membership have transformed Eastern Europe from an economic success into a political challenge for the bloc as nationalist parties exploit lingering income disparities You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Did you find any incorrect or incomplete information? Please, let us know HK 31 Kezmarok participates in season 2024-2025: 2.liga (SVK), 1.liga U18 (SVK) Luleå wins their second title in Sweden, 29 years after the first one. Read more» The Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins will face off in Stockholm, Sweden, on November 14 and 16, 2025, as part of the NHL Global Series. These games at the renovated Avicii Arena mark the 47th and 48th NHL contests held in ... Read more» but said his family left because of racial abuse While the world of combat sports eagerly awaits the rematch between boxers Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury on December 21 in Saudi Arabia, a 19-year-old boxer with Slovak roots, Moses Itauma, is among the contenders to become the future star of British heavyweight boxing, reports the Denník N daily In July, Itauma delivered a second-round knockout against veteran Polish fighter Mariusz Wach to retain his WBO Intercontinental heavyweight title Wach previously fought (and lost to) Ukraine's Wladimir Klitschko for the unified world champion heavyweight title When searching for more information about Moses Itauma online you might come across a surprising fact: he was born in Kežmarok in the Spiš region of eastern Slovakia and spent the early years of his life there In an interview with Boxing News Online last year Itauma spoke about his family’s move from Slovakia to the UK The primary reason was the racism they faced “My middle brother is much darker than Karol and me My mum didn’t see a reason for us to stay there “My brothers and I were racially abused I remember him telling me how people would stop and stare at him on the main street so he decided to return to England,” Itauma continued “I stayed with my grandmother in Slovakia for a while but in 2008 I was the last to leave,” Moses added where Moses followed in the footsteps of his eldest brother Moses initially started training at nine but quit after three months to play football with his middle brother where he trained from age nine to 17 under the same coach he works with today Itauma won all 24 of his bouts and gained valuable experience sparring with top British fighters including former world champion Lawrence Okolie at just 15 he’s trained with heavyweight stars like Anthony Joshua and is currently part of Tyson Fury’s camp ahead of Fury’s upcoming rematch with Oleksandr Usyk Itauma will face Australia’s Demsey McKean aiming to showcase his growing power and follow up on his win over Mariusz Wach “I wouldn’t want to fight me either,” Itauma quipped about opponents who’ve backed out of matches Moses Itauma could have aimed for an Olympic medal with his amateur record but he chose to turn professional at just 18 signing with top British promoter Frank Warren Concerns over corruption and instability in amateur boxing including the exclusion of the International Boxing Association (IBA) from the Olympic movement Itauma made an explosive pro debut in January 2023 knocking out Czech fighter Marcel Bode in just 23 seconds Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Good evening. Here is the Tuesday, June 25 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes In the village of Rakúsy near Kežmarok a pilot Roma school will open in the coming years there are few schools teaching the Roma language and none where Roma is the language of instruction "I consider it particularly important to create a space for the education of children from ethnic minorities in their mother tongue including Roma children," said Education Minister Tomáš Drucker (Hlas) The Education Ministry, the village of Rakúsy, the University of Prešov, and the Association of Schools Teaching the Roma Language have signed a memorandum of cooperation for the establishment of the school According to data from the Atlas of Roma Communities from 2019 there are about 450,000 inhabitants of Roma origin living in Slovakia and 60 percent of them primarily use the Roma language at home Business: A Slovak firm made clothes for German police officers and Olympians Opinion: Will President Peter Pellegrini be Prince Svätopluk's successor Travel: Under the stars, by "Golden Beaches" Lake. Bratislava's official campsite is officially open Restaurant: Our food critic, Mark Taylor, has reviewed an Italian ristorante in the centre of Bratislava Business: Slovak Telekom and Tesco were among those who took home the Via Bona Slovakia Award on Tuesday night If you like what we are doing and want to support good journalism, buy our online subscription with no ads and a print copy of The Slovak Spectator sent to your home in Slovakia Ukrainian woman Yelyzaveta 'Liza' Derevynska arrived in Slovakia after Russia's invasion of Ukraine leaving her parents behind in her native Kyiv "The war took away the feeling of Kyiv being my home," she says she runs a popular Telegram profile at the League for Human Rights On Saturday, June 29, you can can stop by at a gazebo on Hviezdoslavovo Námestie square in Bratislava. Festival goers will learn how to make sushi, travel to Gifu, try to play Go and Shogi, watch martial arts, explore Japanese fashion, and more. The festival Half of the Slovak population disagrees with LGBT+ couples having the same rights as heterosexuals, shows the latest NMS Market Research Slovakia poll Forty-five percent of respondents are against the equal rights of LGBT+ couples Half the population also believes that Slovakia is not a good place for LGBT+ people to live in The carrier FlixBus has said that the bus connection to the Croatian island of Krk operates daily during the summer season A direct bus route to the island starts in Warsaw As of June 11 this year, 73 people have applied for asylum The most frequent applicants were Ukrainians with the highest number of applications coming from Turks On Tuesday, the Council of the EU adopted a decision to extend temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees until March 4 nearly 143,300 Ukrainians applied for temporary protection in Slovakia JUNE 26 NAME'S DAY IN SLOVAKIA: Adriána If you have suggestions on how our news overview can be improved you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk Follow The Slovak Spectator on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram an earl who was exiled after a failed rebellion in the 17th century Emeric Thököly sits proudly on his horse outside Kežmarok Castle A new bronze statue of the Kežmarok-born earl made by Hungarian sculptor Lajos Györi and funded by Hungary “As the leader of anti-Habsburg uprisings he fought for freedom of religion,” Kežmarok Museum Director Erika Cintulová said Historians characterise him as a man who managed to save the Lutheran Church in the most difficult times of its history Protestants could build schools and articular churches following the initial success of the rebellions against the then ruling Habsburg monarchy Thököly was exiled to the Ottoman Empire after one of his last rebellions against the Habsburg monarch Leopold I was crushed near Vienna His remains were moved to Kežmarok from Turkey in 1906 and today are buried in the New Evangelical Church in the Slovak town The former earl was born at Kežmarok Castle in 1657 His family owned the castle in the 16th and 17th centuries and rebuilt it into a luxurious aristocratic residence “Emeric and his father were contradictory personalities There were constant disagreements between local people and the owners of the castle but the castle thrived during their time,” Cintulová said The story of the aristocratic family is told in a special display in one of the castle's towers How come despite its tourism potential and an industrial park nearby Kežmarok has an unemployment rate three times higher than Slovakia's average An almost empty long street with old houses on both sides welcomed me on the cold early November day when I arrived to Kežmarok built in the 14th century with its Renaissance belfry I could see the wooden evangelical articular church built in 1717 and added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List about a decade ago I admired it from the outside and then found my way towards the castle I walked past very old houses which traditionally belonged to local traders at a time when the town was flourishing many nicely reconstructed with respect to their original style The castle built as part of the town fortifications in 1463 attracts about 60,000 visitors per year I was told that on a sunny day you can even catch a glimpse of the Tatra Mountains So how come despite this touristic potential and an industrial park nearby the district of Kežmarok has an unemployment rate of 14.4 percent three times higher than Slovakia's average The rest of this article is premium content at Spectator.skSubscribe now for full access Immediate access to all locked articles (premium content) on Spectator.sk Special weekly news summary + an audio recording with a weekly news summary to listen to at your convenience (received on a weekly basis directly to your e-mail) PDF version of the latest issue of our newspaper Access to all premium content on Sme.sk and Korzar.sk She translates and extracts information from Jewish tombstones to help people connect with their families’ pasts “I’m not good at matchmaking people who are living,” Isenberg said “I do matchmaking between living people and their ancestors.” A former software engineer who now lives in Los Angeles the 70-something Isenberg was born in London has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from UCLA and an “all-but-master’s-thesis” in computer science from the Technion Isenberg calls herself a stelaeglyphologist “Stelae are monuments that are taller than they are wide and an ologist is someone who studies it,” she explained There are so many [that] if you don’t understand [the context] Isenberg noted there could be up to 14 or 15 ways to indicate an abbreviation She cited one example on a Sephardic tombstone that employed the letters Kaf “It was actually an abbreviation that read “Honorable rabbi.’ ” Deciphering tombstones requires translating inscriptions and collecting information She also employs resources such as JewishGen.org and the Jewish Online Worldwide Burial Registry “It’s amazing to be able to put these pieces together,” she said Her interest in reading tombstones dates back to 1996 traveled to  the Kezmarok cemetery in Slovakia where they met up with her cousin in an attempt to locate family members who may have been buried there Isenberg’s father grew up in Kezmarok and most of her Holocaust-surviving family members eventually emigrated from there to Israel in 1948 they made their way through the overgrown cemetery where Isenberg discovered her great-grandmother’s grave The weathered headstone was difficult to read but it confirmed the history Isenberg knew: Her great-grandmother had died young while giving birth to her third child Her father’s name was also on the headstone when Isenberg wanted to get the stone restored a cousin introduced her via email to Mikulas “Miki” Liptak who would use markers to highlight the lettering on the gravestones and then send photos of them to Isenberg to decipher received funding to preserve the Jewish cemetery Liptak took pictures of all 550 tombstones He reached out to Isenberg to translate the stones Isenberg has read and deciphered several thousand tombstones from around the world She continues to help people track down relatives and decipher their tombstones Isenberg will be a guest speaker at the 38th International Association of Jewish Genealogy Societies (IAJGS) conference She will be speaking on what can be gleaned from the Hebrew inscriptions on tombstones “I’m attempting to help beginning researchers who barely know the Hebrew alphabet to find and recognize certain pieces of information that should be of genealogical value as they research and build their family trees,” Isenberg said “[It’s fun] finding something or being able to help somebody who has been searching.” elections in the 39th World Zionist Congress nears conclusion—voting closes May 4—American Zionist Movement (AZM) Executive Director Herbert Block said there were few barriers of entry to voting in what Jewish leaders are describing as a consequential election We are here today because Jewish fathers and mothers wanted more than happiness from their children The bipartisan group includes Los Angeles representatives Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) and Ted Lieu (D-West LA) Speaking ill of someone once most likely leads to a second time The company has moved part of its production from Germany to its Kežmarok plant Hengstler officially opened its new plant in the industrial park in Kežmarok on November 8 The investment is worth more than €7 million financed solely from the company’s own resources which has been operating in this area under the Tatra mountains for 22 years and employs 380 people has moved part of its production from Germany and has created 72 new jobs in the process The area of the new plant is 17,000 square metres The new premises were built by the Ingosing company which bought the plots from the town administration and has concluded a contract for rental with Hengstler for ten years at least CEO of the Kežmarok plant Marcel Drgala informed TASR Production was actually moved there at the end of June and an investment in machinery and modern technologies was needed for new processes The assembly workshop also needed new employees who were hired locally and some were even sent to Germany for training Some professionals with various levels of skills and education were needed for logistics and thus various professions were needed and they held 365 job interviews in total Around 15 more employees are still required in industrial engineering a considerable increase in production is expected which will require the further recruitment of 20 to 120 people depending on the volume of the orders received The main products of the company include mechanical and electro-mechanical meters printers for ATMs and devices that print parking tickets There is also a pressing shop for plastics and metals and a toolroom where necessary components for production are made Hengstler was established in Kežmarok more than 20 years ago and belongs among the biggest local employers town mayor Ján Ferenčák told TASR adding that the new investment is considered a huge contribution and also a sign that it plans to stay here in the future The company also cooperates with vocational schools in the region and offers students the chance to gain skills and prospective jobs The accusations surfaced after a politician shared a video of the children’s testimonies A police officer allegedly assaulted Roma children at a primary school in Stráne pod Tatrami a village near Kežmarok in eastern Slovakia This accusation emerged following a video posted on social media by politician Peter Pollák (Slovensko) on Thursday children aged 11 to 13 describe being slapped by a police officer from Kežmarok with one child even claiming to have been kicked in his leg who has previously served as the government plenipotentiary for the Roma community recorded the children’s testimonies and brought their families to Bratislava to highlight the case “It is absolutely unacceptable for any police officer to beat children regardless of whether they are Roma or not,” Pollák stated emphasising that if the allegations are proven true the Slovensko movement filed a criminal complaint against the officer involved believing that both the school and the local authorities failed in their duty The alleged attack took place behind closed doors on February 13 The school’s headmaster, Dagmar Wagnerová, spoke to Denník N and confirmed that she only learned about the police presence from a colleague after the Kežmarok police had arrived at the school The police had not informed her in advance The school is located just outside the village within a secluded Roma community that makes up 95 percent of Stráne pod Tatrami’s population All the students attending the school are Roma Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application Offer Condolence for the family of Andrej (Andy) Modla This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors What did it feel like to be caged in public A central Slovak town decided to answer this question by providing tourists with a proper shameful experience reinstalled the cage of shame in its historical square where a similar device stood in the 18th century a "witch’s heart" will be included in a list of attractions as witches were imprisoned in Krupina The cage near the town hall is believed to have declined in the 19th century Its original appearance has not been preserved but historical records suggest that the device in which people were caged and publicly shamed could spin around which was made according to a drawing by local blacksmith Branislav Zelman The inspiration came from other ancient cages that can be found in several Slovak towns such as Levoča and Kežmarok “The replica of our cage is made of metal and stone,” said the Krupina mayor Radoslav Vazan, as quoted by the TASR newswire The cage is part of a circuit following the steps of Krupina-born poet Andrej Sládkovič who wrote the world’s longest love poem Marína is planning on installing a "witch’s heart" in the public space as well Although suspected witches were never put in the cage they were imprisoned in the cellars underneath the Krupina Town Hall up to 14 women were found guilty of practicing witchcraft during witch trials A helping hand in the heart of Europe thanks to the Slovakia travel guide with more than 1,000 photos and hundred of tourist spots Detailed travel guide to the Tatras introduces you to the whole region around the Tatra mountains Lost in Bratislava? Impossible with our City Guide It has something to do with four articular Lutheran churches in Slovakia As the reformation movement expanded across Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries Emperor Leopold I eventually allowed them to build their churches under strict conditions scribbled in Article 25 and 26 Protestant Scandinavians are believed to have helped build the articular Lutheran churches in Slovakia weddings and baptisms are still held in these churches The Spectacular Slovakia travel podcast is the latest addition to our range of travel-related products This programme is part of The Slovak Spectator subscription and our readers receive it every Thursday morning as part of their subscription More information:Print+audio: shop.spectator.sme.sk/newspaperOnline+audio: www.sme.sk/predplatne-spectator The national park's education centre walks visitors through the natural history of the mountains kids' activities and a giant model of the Tatras As numbers are limited to 40 people at a time ContactAddressul Chałubińskiego 42a 18 202 3312 https://​www​.tpn​.pl​/ Orava Castle Vampire aficionados may recognise its stern silhouette from… Tatra Gallery Poprad's former steam-power plant is now the atmospheric setting for an excellent art gallery Pieniny National Park Pyramidal mountains furred with evergreen forests form the majestic terrain of Pieniny National Park Red Monastery Its enigmatic atmosphere amplified by a forested backdrop this fortified monastery has undergone enormous change (and destruction) since it was… Kežmarok Castle Kežmarok’s crowning attraction is its castle a prettily crenellated compound that dates to the 15th century Spišská Sobota Poprad's Spišská Sobota neighbourhood is lined with attractive burgher houses Settled by German colonists around the 13th… Czorsztyn Castle This fortress was built as the Polish counterpart to the Hungarian stronghold opposite at Niedzica – the customs frontier ran through the area… Old Church & Cemetery This small wooden church and atmospheric cemetery date from the mid-19th century The Old Church has charming carved wooden decorations and pews View more attractionsNearby Zakopane attractions1. Szymanowski Museum An adjunct to the national museum in Krakow the Szymanowski Museum highlights the life and work of the early modern Polish composer Karol Szymanowski … 2. Tatra Museum This is the main branch of the Tatra Museum which occupies various branches around Zakopane Featuring old-fashioned exhibits exploring the natural… 3. Old Church & Cemetery 4. Museum of Zakopane Style this was the first of several grand wooden villas designed by the noted Polish painter and architect Stanisław Witkiewicz in… 5. Museum of Zakopane Style – Inspirations This companion museum to the main Zakopane Style museum is more of an ethnographic exhibition highlighting the highlander folk roots and styles that… 6. Morskie Oko the emerald-green 'Eye of the Sea' is the largest lake in the Tatras and a popular outing from Zakopane 7. Ždiar House Museum Displayed within a creaky and quaint house built in Goral (Slovak and Polish shepherd) style this small museum paints a colourful picture of Ždiar's… 8. Belianska Cave Six kilometres south of Ždiar, this cave stimulates the imagination with stalactite-filled chambers and the acoustics of its 'Music Hall' (you may be… No part of this site may be reproduced without our written permission Thousands have shared the latest hoax on the abduction of children on social media The police warn that scaremongering is criminal act Two women and a man driving in a black car have recently been luring children to kidnap them the black car was swapped with a white van resembling an ambulance This fake news has recently taken over Facebook and Instagram users in Slovakia many have reached out to the police to check the situation has occurred in the territory of the Slovak Republic," the police posted on Facebook adding that no child abduction has ever been recorded some are determined to argue that the hoax is actually true The fake news posts include the villages in northern Slovakia near Levoča (also the Prešov Region) the police come here," Toporec Mayor Gustáv Pompa told the private broadcaster TV JOJ They also have CCTV cameras in the village escaping with older partners and parental child abduction are the most common reasons for children going missing," the police stated The police have already found one of the Instagram users sharing the child abduction hoax "A woman was worried about her siblings in the first moment and so published the post," the police informed in their Facebook video She soon realized that the post was silly and deleted it "We'd like to remind that scaremongering is a criminal act for which one can spend two years in prison and even up to eight years under some conditions," the police have warned Aerial scanning has revealed some peaks are shorter than previously stated Here's your travel and culture roundup One of Bratislava’s landmarks - SNP Bridge - was officially opened on August 26 the construction was completed two years later when café Bystrica (restaurant UFO today) also began its operation the bridge was declared a national cultural monument A new attraction awaits adrenaline junkies in the Kremnica Mountains has been introduced in the ferrata area in Skalka A trip to the four lakes in the Western Tatras is not demanding which means children can manage it as well hiding one of the biggest Baroque organs in the country Have a listen to the podcast episode on wooden churches A bee meadow has been opened in Bratislava Urban Forest Bratislava plans to organise beekeeping classes for children Deckchairs and books are at your disposal too The Slanské Mountains in the east of Slovakia reveal remarkable secrets and sights to tourists visitors may also come across demon pictures at Falcon’s Rock in response to the rapid occupation of the wartime Slovak state by Nazi forces Army Colonel Ján Golian sent out a message that launched the Slovak National Uprising Have a listen to last year’s history class with James Thompson to learn more about the uprising MUSEUM: The Slovak National Museum’s department in Bojnice will operate in a limited mode from August 31 to September 9 A part of Bojnice Castle will also remain temporarily closed due to the filming of a fairy tale FOUNTAIN BAN: The city of Trenčín will introduce a ban on jumping into and swimming in fountains Those that violate the ban will be fined €33 MOUNTAINS: Aerial scanning has unveiled inaccuracies in the heights of the Tatra peaks Malá Litvorová veža is 127 metres shorter compared to previous figures Lomnický štít is shorter by 1 metre is 11 metres taller than previously thought MUSIC: Slovak singer Sima Martausová has released a new song, Srdce nepokojné (Restless Heart). The song will appear on her upcoming album, which should be released before Christmas. Listen to the song FESTIVAL: The three-day ART IN PARK film festival has kicked off in Trenčianske Teplice and children’s theatre are on the programme BRIDGE: In a poll, more than 110,000 people decided on the name of a new bridge over the Danube River It will be called Lužný Bridge after it received about 50,000 votes The old Bratislava delicacy is very similar to Italian cantuccini almond biscuits one of the best known bakers was Alexander Kesselbauer The Slovak-born production designer, Val Stražovec, died in Canada – where he emigrated in the late sixties - on August 17 The designer is well-known for his work on the popular children’s program Muppets Tonight watch the episode featuring American singer Tony Bennett The Slovak Cave Administration has opened 13 caves to the public so far as many as 6,200 have been explored in Slovakia to date Privately managed caves offer the most adventurous experience Read last week's roundup.