In 2018, a Memorial from the battles of World War I was added to the Kaštielik hill located between the villages of Nižná Polianka and Mikulášová (in the Bardejov district). This place was an important defensive point of the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I. In 1915, bloody battles took place on the heights, which claimed the lives of thousands of soldiers. Since then, the locals have also called the hill Death Mountain.
The main motif of the memorial is the battle of the armies of Austria-Hungary and Russia in 1915. The symbolic point of the clash, characterised by a stone monolith weighing more than 400 kg and bearing the numbers 1914-1918, is surrounded by wooden columns. The double material design symbolises a pair of armies fighting each other and number of columns on one side and on the other represents the ratio of forces.
The columns are placed densely enough to create a feeling of confinement and anxiety in the visitor. One thus finds oneself symbolically at the epicentre of the fighting.
On some of the columns are the names of the places where the military units that fought on Kaštielik Heights had their headquarters. Regiments of the Austro-Hungarian army took part in the battles on Death Mountain, mainly from the present-day Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia and Italy.
A nature trail marked in green leads to the memorial from the Municipal Office in Mikulášová. The route goes along the war cemetery above the village, where some of the soldiers who died during the battles for the heights are buried. The trail is approximately 6 km long and the journey to the heights and back takes approximately 2:30 h.
Start of the route: Municipal Office Mikulášová (345m above sea level)
End of the route: Death Mountain (648 m above sea level)
Time:1:15 h
Distance: 3 km
Climb: 303 m
Dropping: ↘ 0 m
Highest point: 648 m above sea level.
Lowest point: 345 m above sea level.
