The old village of Jósvafő

A tourist resort out of an industrial settlement

The history of the village as a tourist resort began by making an entrance to Baradla Cave in 1928. The first mention of the village stretches all the way back to the 13th century. Abundant karst springs provided the opportunity to produce energy in the village allowing for building a hammer mill and a scutching mill along the creeks. Iron making was probably present even before the village was established. The mills are gone by now except one building hosting a restaurant and a model mill wheel near Pap-palló. The village has a population of around 300 hundred, which multiplies by tourists in high seasons.

Programs in the old village

There are many houses representing traditional rural architecture in a good shape in the old village. They include a restaurant, a family hotel with authentic furniture and a village museum displaying past rural life. In one room the history of caving in the area is displayed. A former estate of a noble family is home to an environmental education center (Kúria Oktatóközpont). At the  same place some horses of the hucul stud are kept and horse programs are also available. Two small galleries collected artifacts by local artists or depicting natural beauties of the area (Baradla and Balda Galéria).

A church in two pieces

Looking towards the old village from the creek, a church tower attracts our attention. Walking there it may take you by surprise that the bell tower is a separate building next to the reformed church surrounded by a wall. As time was passing by locals more and more missed a tower to their church as each neighboring village already had one. After a long debate they decided to build it separately from the church and finally, it was constructed by the mid-19th century in Baroque style. It used to serve as a fire lookout tower, too.

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