Culture and sights

The museum in Nová Bystrica documents the way of life and customs of the inhabitant in the mountainous Kysuce region. It features a unique narrow-gauge forest railway with a switchback system, which is currently the only historical rail of its kind in Europe. The open air museum features an interesting exposition of 34 buildings of folk architecture set into the beautiful nature and scattered across the valley Chmúra. You will find wide range of objects here from barns, stables and hay-barns, through residential homesteads, pubs, water mill and a church. The interiors are well furnished and they feel as if their inhabitants just pop out for a while.

The Slovak orloj represents the biggest statue in Slovakia and its composition features elements of sitting Madonna, Our Lady of Sorrows the Patroness of Slovakia. Six bronze sculptures are placed in niches. The Prince Pribina, Svätopluk, A.Bernolák, Ľudovít Štúr, Milan Rastislav Štefánik and Andrej Hlinka will look you in the eye here. The whole tableau is complemented by the seven statues of apostles carved into poplar wood. The heart of orloj is so called astrolabe which is a dial with astronomical data. It is the astrolabe which makes from the Slovak orloj the first and only orloj is the Slovak Republic. The tower has two bells installed, one of which strike times and the other plays background music during the promenade of the apostles.

The ruins of a castle Strečno, a national cultural monument, tower on the right bank of the river Váh on a limestone cliff. It was built in 14th century to protect the territory and collect toll which was necessary to pay when crossing the river Váh. The castle got the present look on the turn of the 15th and 16th century. Back then as well as now, it watches over the narrow passage of the Váh and it is also an inseparable feature of the Fatra scenery. Every year a number of various events take place here such as night tours of the castle, but also concerts and theater performances.

On the hill above the village towards the Vrátna valley, Terchová residents put up a monumental sculpture in honor of this Terchová native. The statue standing 7.5 meters tall is made of premium steel plate. It was built in 1988 and was built by an academic sculptor Ján Kulich. The statue was unveiled on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of his birth during Jánošik’s Days in 1988.

Bethlehem in Terchová became an inseparable part of Christmas last couple of years. It is installed on the eve of the most beautiful holidays of the year in the local Roman Catholic church dedicated to St. Cyril and St. Methods. Its author was a well-known village carver Štefan Hanuliak. Bethlehem consists of two parts. The first part depicts Terchová, folk crafts and the second depicts the stories of the New Testament. Every year new components are added to the Bethlehem be it images from Bethlehem and Jerusalem or those evoking the atmosphere of Terchová with the carvings of typical workrooms.

Terchová as a village had had no church until 1731, and this made the local believers walk the distance of 20 kilometers to Varín if they wanted to attend a mass. The first church dedicated to St. Martin was built in this year. In the 1930, the churce could not serve so many people and it was high time to start thinking about a new more spacious one. The foundation stone of the new church was lain in 1942 and was designed by an architect Michal Harminc. It was consecrated in 1949 and out of respect to the first Slavic missionaries St. Cyril and Methodius became the patrons of the church.

Terchová residents hold a great deal of respect for their hero as they put up also a 2.5 m tall wooden statue in his honor. The work was created by a woodcarver Ján Palko. It was made from a century old linden which used to stand in from of the Museum of Považie in Žilina, but was uprooted by storm-force wind. He carved the statue to resemble the idea of Jánošík as the author imagined him when he was a child. The statue features well-known braids, studded belt, but also his valaška (shepherd’s axe).

The stations of the cross are built of glass and stone quarried more than a century ago. Its author is a Terchová native, sculptor Milan Opalka. Terchová regularly holds nationwide Cyril and Methodius Days and the stations of the cross have added to the significance of this pilgrimage site with the largest churches in Slovakia dedicated to the Thessaloniki brothers since 2006.