LEVOČA (22 July) - At the beginning of the 20th century, hiking enthusiasts built the Hajtsova shelter on the foundations of the former monastery cell at Kláštorisko in the Slovak Paradise. Béla Hajts, a native of Novo mesto, was the chairman of the first tourist organisation in the former Hungary. The oldest, now extinct, hut in the Levoča Hills was the Cornelius hut. These and other interesting facts about huts and shelters in Slovakia are presented in a unique publication, which was launched these days.
Ernest Rusnák from Levoča is a name in the field of tourism in Spiš and Slovakia. Together with Ladislav Khandl, Eva Potočná and a team of authors, three years ago they undertook the difficult task of mapping the tourist huts and shelters in the country. This is how the publication How tourist huts and shelters in Slovakia were created, which was published in a 1,500-piece edition. Consultants and tourists The book is divided into individual Slovak mountain ranges, mountain units from the west to the east of the country.
The eastern part from Mala Fatra to the east was mapped by E. Rusnák. "We focused on all the cottages and shelters that were built during the Austro-Hungarian period. The interwar period is also captured, as well as the changes in ownership after 1948 and November 1989. Some of the cottages were not rebuilt after the Second World War, some have not existed for 50, 60 or 80 years. We have not dealt with the cottages built during the socialist period, which were used for various recreational purposes," said E. Rusnák. The source of the information was various sources that partially depicted the development of the huts. However, the knowledge of the people living in the areas was an invaluable aid. "We consulted a lot of things with tourists, cottagers who live there and know their region best. Thanks to them, we managed to put it together, even though at first there were voices that we would not succeed. I have often gone into the field with these people and we have searched for the foundations of former, now defunct huts, which have been undermined by the ravages of time.," stressed E. Rusnák. A symbolic crown for entry to the Corneliusova chata, Chata pod Javorinou or na Javorinke. All these chalets no longer exist.
The Levoca Hills as a military zone were seized and the huts destroyed. All the more precious are the pictures of these tourist huts on period photographs or postcards. The book also includes the Kováčová villa in the Levoča valley. Also known from the history is the shelter on the Branisko hill in Chvalaboh. In the Slovak Paradise, it is the Hajtsova útulňa on Kláštorisko, built in 1922 and extended two years later. It disappeared when the Zorka hut was built on a nearby hill, which is still in operation today. The refuges were without a caretaker. The tourist knew where to find the key, had firewood ready, and had a place to stay for the night. When he left, he prepared the shelter for the next traveller. Tourist huts already had their own housekeepers who took care of them, served refreshments. "There used to be a fee to enter the cottage. But it was such a symbolic fee, one crown. The money was then used to maintain the hut," said E. Rusnák. The book is the first of its kind. The authors believe that it will be positively received by tourism connoisseurs, so that after two to three years they will be able to publish a second, expanded edition with more interesting photographs of Slovak cottages and cottages.
source: Korzár; No. 167, Denník prešovského kraja , p. 5; shim
