Slovakia offers tourists an interesting experience in the northernmost part of Little Carpathians. It is a region where visitors can find the castle of a bloody countess Bathory but also plenty of wildlife. The Cachtice karst with its many caves is worth seeing too.
The northernmost part of Little Carpathians (Male Karpaty in Slovak) is called Cachticke Karpaty. With its area of 716 hectares and altitude of around 600 meters it is an ideal place for tourists who like hiking. There are plenty of marked trails, which make hiking easier.
As the Slovak server Cestovanie.sk points out, the most popular tourism site in the region is perhaps the Cachtice Castle, which was the home of the infamous Bloody Lady Elizabeth Bathory. The murderous countess is widely known thanks to many books written about her and lately also thanks to the Juraj Jakubisko’s movie Bathory (2008).
The castle was built around 1260 as a part of border fortifications. During Renaissance period the castle was expanded into a complex structure with ingenious defense system. However, the uprising of 18th century which was led by Francis II Rakoczi was the beginning of the end of the castle. Nowadays, only ruins commemorate the days of its fame, but they are still magnificent and certainly remain the dominant feature of the region.
It is not only the famous castle of the bloody countess that lures tourists to Cachticke Karpaty but also its beauties because of which the region was included in the European program Natura 2000. The region is inhabited by rare kinds of butterflies, lizards and a ground squirrel and unique plants grow there too. Speleologists know the region because of the Cachtice karst and its numerous caves that lies on some 18 square kilometers. The Cachticke Karpaty region is simply an ideal spot for calm holiday for wide range of tourists.
