Museum of the Orava Village

The Museum of the Orava Village is a unique open-air museum that presents traditional life in Orava villages of the past centuries. It is located in a beautiful natural environment under the Roháče Mountains, in the part of Zuberec-Brestová, near the Western Tatras. On an area of eight hectares there are over fifty buildings of folk architecture from different parts of Orava. The exposition is divided into thematic units that show the differences between the richer and poorer areas of the region - Dolnooravský rínok, Zamagurská ulica or Goralské lazy. Visitors can see not only residential houses, but also farm buildings, craftsmen's workshops and technical buildings, such as a water mill, an oil mill or a pottery kiln. The museum is dominated by the wooden Gothic church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary from the beginning of the fifteenth century, which has a preserved painted ceiling and a working Baroque organ. In summer, it is also possible to see domestic animal husbandry and the cultivation of traditional crops, which helps to better imagine how the Orava people once lived and worked. The museum was established in 1975, when many of the objects were transported from their original locations and rebuilt in the museum. Since then, it has become a lively place where various cultural programmes, craft demonstrations and folklore events are held throughout the year. The open-air museum offers visitors a rich experience and gives them a glimpse into Orava's past in a simple and easy-to-understand way