Hadvig

The small wooden bell tower of the former Hadviga settlement in the Žiar Mountains, once inhabited by the Carpathian Germans, can be reached by a forest road from the village of Brieštie in the direction of the Meneľ valley along the Lúčky stream. The route is approximately three kilometres long. Before the war, there were one hundred houses in which lived about three hundred and fifty inhabitants, mostly Germans. They had their own shop, post office, pub, community centre, school and church. After the war the inhabitants were displaced and all that remained of the settlement was the church, about ten houses, a well and only the stairs of the school. Today the church is being restored and New Year's Mass is celebrated there. The bell tower has also been preserved and is now hidden among the trees on the edge of the meadow above the church. It has been repaired several times and has a square plan. A wooden plaque above its door explains when and why it was built. The bell tower is also engraved with a slogan from 1920: "The bell-ringer's voice to keep the bell tower from a heavy storm." The fact that the bell tower today has no bell creates a sad impression. Nevertheless, the site is located in beautiful countryside and is certainly worth a visit. The church can be reached by car, and from there it is about four hundred metres on foot to the bell tower.