Stará Turá: Hiking Trails, Museums and Living History

In Stará Turá, trails, buildings, museums and inherited traditions come together. Between the railway station, protected landscapes, churches and historical collections, a multifaceted picture of the town emerges. The topics range from an easy route with information boards to railway history and the development of crafts and trades.

Nature

A yellow-marked hiking trail leads from Stará Turá railway station to Holubyho chata on Veľká Javorina in approximately 3.5 hours. The Drgoňova–Durcova dolina educational trail is 4.9 km long, has an elevation gain of 100 m, takes approximately 1.5 hours and includes four stops. The route is considered easy, has four information boards and is also suitable for families with small children.

The Pavúkov jarok Protected Area covers 22.49 ha, belongs to the Natura 2000 European network of protected areas and is subject to the fourth level of protection. It protects floodplain meadows and relatively well-preserved riparian vegetation with rich populations of Maculinea butterflies.

Culture

One of the notable buildings is Stará veža, also known as Husitská. It is the oldest surviving building in Stará Turá and a three-storey stone tower. The Toleration Evangelical Church combines Classicist elements with a Baroque influence and has galleries on three sides. It also houses an organ made in 1873, which is a protected monument. A tower was probably added to the church in Stará Turá in 1624.

The Calvary of Stará Turá is located in the Drahý Roman Catholic Cemetery; its access path is lined with fourteen Stations of the Cross. The Chapel of the Holy Cross in the Calvary complex is a Neo-Gothic building with a semicircular termination.

The Roy Sisters Museum focuses on literary studies, musicology, and the social and spiritual work of Mária and Kristína Royová. Visits to the Roy Sisters Museum can be arranged by prior telephone or email appointment. At the Railway Museum, visitors can try out a Morse device, view old timetables and learn more about railway operations in past decades. The exhibition covers the Veselí nad Moravou–Nové Mesto nad Váhom railway line and the surrounding branch lines. Stará Turá railway station continues to serve as a railway stop.

History

The Stará Turá Town Museum displays fossils, remains of Quaternary mammals and archaeological finds from the Stone and Bronze Ages. Its ethnographic section focuses on the development of crafts, guilds, trade and trades in Stará Turá.

Craft markets and events have also become a tradition in Stará Turá. The Javorina Cultural Centre organizes four craft events every year—in spring, summer, autumn and winter.

A special connection to the region's food history leads to Ján Vagač, a butcher and trader from Stará Turá. In 1787, he founded Slovakia's first commercial bryndza dairy in Detva. According to local tradition, the first bryndza producers in Slovakia came from Stará Turá.

For the higher-level travel overview: Nové Mesto Nad Váhom District.