Podhorie

The village of Podhorie spreads out at the foot of the Supervolcano Štiavnica, just 10 minutes’ drive from Banská Štiavnica. In this charming little village, time seems to have stood still.

Podhorie was formed by merging two old settlements, Žakýl and Teplá. The people of Teplá were settled here by the abbot of Hronský Beňadik, while the settlement of Žakýl (Zekel, Sikul) was founded by the Székelys, royal guards at the nearby Žakýl Castle. Until the 13th century the castle served as a lookout post. Below it ran the old Matejova cesta (Matthias’s Road), which linked Banská Štiavnica with Kremnica, and the castle protected the wagons carrying gold and silver from Štiavnica to the Kremnica Mint.

The remains of Žakýl Castle (Zekel, Szekel, also known as Pustý hrad – the Deserted Castle), now almost invisible, lie north-east of the village on Brezový vrch (812 m above sea level). All that survives of the original castle is part of the outer defensive rampart and the entrances to two underground passages. The Žakýlske pleso educational trail leads up to it.

The people here made their living as farmers, craftsmen, charcoal burners and woodcutters. The character of the village is defined by folk architecture with simple cottages and lovely natural surroundings. You will still find several original 19th-century stone houses with cellars. Typical farmhouses had their front facade facing the street, with two small windows set in stone surrounds and sometimes a holy icon between them. The walls were built of irregularly shaped stones. The front part of the house, entered from the yard, was the living area, while the back housed the livestock and the barn (pajta).

The people of Podhorie keep their folk traditions alive in the Podhorčan folk ensemble, founded in 1974 and still very active today. It draws the themes for its performances mainly from the village’s seasonal and family customs. On its natural open-air amphitheatre, the village hosts a folklore festival that ranks among the most important events of its kind in the area. You can also learn the arts of tambour (crooked-needle) embroidery and bobbin lace-making right here in the village, on courses with a local lacemaker.