Old Mountains

Staré Hory is a picturesque village located in the Starohorská valley between the mountains of Veľká Fatra and Low Tatras. The surrounding relief is rugged. In the Veľká Fatra part there are the slopes of the Krížná Krížna with a height of 1574 metres, the Mala Krížna Krížna with a height of 1329 metres and Úplaz, which is 1275 metres high. In the central part, the 1255-metre high Majerova skala (Majerova skala) rises above the village. Looking at the Low Tatras mountains you will see as the highest parts of the chotár Jelenská rock with 1149 meters, Krčahy high 1135 meters and Zamrlo, which measures 1073 meters. The Starohorský brook flows through the village. The settlements of Horný Jelenec, Dolný Jelenec, Valentová, Rybô and Polkanová also belong to the village of Staré Hory. Staré Hory was founded as a mining settlement in the 13th century. Silver and copper ore was mined and processed here. Stone tools, which were once used for mining ore, were even found here. Mining peaked in Staré Hory at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, when a large complex of smelting furnaces was built here with the support of the Thurzo-Fugger Company, which also influenced the development of logging and coal mining. Lace-making was a complementary occupation for the women of the village. The first references to it date back to the 17th century! A specific feature of Old Mountain lace is its bobbin lace without a pattern on a bare pillow. It is a characteristic strip lace, which was widely used as a clothing accessory or decorative element in homes. Between 1880 and 1922 and between 1925 and 1952 there was a lace-making school in Staré Hory. Originally a small mining settlement, Staré Hory is now an internationally recognised Marian pilgrimage site, welcoming thousands of pilgrims from Slovakia and abroad every year. For more than 500 years, pilgrims have been coming here to venerate the Mother of God. The Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary was elevated to the statu