Zuberec ( hu, Bölényfalu) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in northern

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

and a popular tourist center at the foothills of the Western Tatras. Zuberec features numerous accommodation facilities, restaurants, museum and a tourist information office. The village is the place of several cultural and sporting events including ''Podroháčske folklórne slávnosti'' ( folk festival), ''Goralský klobúčik'' (

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

), ''Oravaman'' (

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

) and ''WSA Eurocup Zuberec'' ( dogsled racing).

Name

Zuberec is called ''Zuberzec'' in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

and ''Bölényfalu'' in Hungarian. It is named after the European bison ( sk, Zubor), an animal that used to be abundant in the region at the time of the foundation of the village.

History

Zuberec was founded in 1593, when the village was known as Zwberczyc, by

shepherd A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...

s and

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...

s under Vlach colonization law Lex Antiqua Valachorum. It was subordinate, like the surrounding villages, to the

Orava Castle Orava or Orawa may refer to: *Orava (region), a region in Slovakia and Poland *Orava (river) in Slovakia *Orava Castle, a castle in Slovakia *Orava (reservoir), a reservoir in Slovakia * Orava County, a historic administrative county of the Kingdom ...

. The village ceased to exist because of the

Bocskay Stephen Bocskai or Bocskay ( hu, Bocskai István; 1 January 155729 December 1606) was Prince of Transylvania and Hungary from 1605 to 1606. He was born to a Hungarian noble family. His father's estates were located in the eastern regions of th ...

uprising, but it was later re-colonized. In 1683 it was devastated by the soldiers of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

. Zuberec contains the neo-gothic Church of Saint Vendelin built in the 1930s according to project of Milan Michal Harminec. At that time, Zuberec did not contain a church and there were space issues in the church in nearby village

Habovka Habovka is a village and municipality in Tvrdošín District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia. History In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1593. The first settlers came from the Polish village of Chabówka, which l ...

. Its founding stone was laid down in 1929 and the church was consecrated in 1933 by the

catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

Andrej Hlinka Andrej Hlinka (born András Hlinka; 27 September 1864 – 16 August 1938) was a Slovak Catholic priest, journalist, banker, politician, and one of the most important Slovakian public activists in Czechoslovakia before the Second World War. He w ...

. There are relics of Saint Vendelin housed here. There is a stone

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

in front of the church from the year 1839. Local cemetery contains gravestones featuring

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

stone

reliefs Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

from the end of the 19th century.

Geography

Zuberec is situated in the

Tvrdošín District Tvrdošín District (''okres Tvrdošín'') is a district in the Žilina Region of central Slovakia. The district was first established in 1996; in 1923 it had been a part of Trstená District. Municipalities * Brezovica * Čimhová * Habovka *H ...

of the

Žilina Region The Žilina Region ( sk, Žilinský kraj; pl, Kraj żyliński; hu, Zsolnai kerület) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions and consists of 11 districts ( okresy) and 315 municipalities, from which 18 have a town status. The region ...

. Historically, it was part of the Orava region. The village lies at an altitude of 760 metres, under the Roháče mountains. The municipality covers an area of 72.328km².

Demographics

Zuberec has a population of 1,810 (as of December 31, 2005). According to the 2001

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, 99.6% of inhabitants were

Slovaks The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak. In Slovakia, 4.4 mi ...

and 97.6%

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Open-air museum

The Museum of the Orava Village ( sk, Múzeum oravskej dediny) is located in Zuberec. This open-air museum of folk architecture exhibits intact rural houses brought from all around the region of Orava and re-assembled in Zuberec. The oldest building, a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

wooden church, was constructed in the 15th century, but the museum itself was founded in 1967. In addition to the church, it now also has its own graveyard and a functioning

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

. The interior of the buildings hosts an ethnographic collection. The gardens and fields around the houses show various ancient forms of

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...

Skiing

Zuberec has three ski resorts: Zuberec Janovky, Zuberec Milotín, and Zverovka Spálená.

References

External links

Official Zuberec website

{{Authority control Ski areas and resorts in Slovakia Villages and municipalities in Tvrdošín District