Havránok Open-Air Museum: a Celtic Hillfort above Liptovská Mara

What Havránok is

When Liptovská Mara was being built in the second half of the 20th century, archaeologists explored the sites that were to be flooded, and the hills around them as well. The research, led by Karol Pieta, is one of the longest in the history of Slovak archaeology, and it confirmed that people lived on Havránok hill as far back as prehistoric times.

The most important find is a hillfort from the Late Iron Age. People took refuge here in times of danger, and the ramparts also protected a sanctuary of the Púchov culture, which arose in Liptov partly under Celtic influence. According to the Liptov Museum, it is the only sanctuary of this culture found so far. Later, Svätá Mara was a church centre and in the 14th century also the centre of Liptov County.

The Liptov Museum began building the open-air museum here in the early 1990s, and since 1995 guides have been working here permanently. The Liptov Region describes it as the first archaeological open-air park in Slovakia.

What you will see

• The fortifications, the sanctuary and a small medieval fortified castle. They have stayed where the archaeologists uncovered them.
• Reconstructed dwellings: emergency shelters right on the hillfort and a farmstead of the kind that formed the basis of settlements at the time. The museum based them on research in Liptov, from the building method and materials to the furnishings inside.
• An exhibition in the building of the archaeological base.
• A view over Liptovská Mara; the hillfort stands on a hill right above the water.

The Liptov Museum also looks after the exhibition in the tower of the Church of the Virgin Mary at Liptovská Mara. It can only be visited from outside, you can just peek in, and it has no opening hours.

When to go and how much time to allow

Havránok is open from 1 May to 31 October every day, longest in July and August (until 18:00); in October it closes at 16:00. Allow an hour to an hour and a half for the site and the exhibition. If you are coming with a larger group, the site manager wants you to let them know in advance.

The trip makes a good half day. Spend the morning by the water or cycling around Mara, then head up to the hillfort in the afternoon.

With children

Havránok is a good destination for children. They can walk around the dwellings and ramparts and imagine what life was like here long ago. Children up to 6 get in free, older children pay €2, and a family with two adults pays €10, with further children free.

What to combine it with

From Liptovská Mara it is not far to Ružomberok and the UNESCO site of Vlkolínec, so you can combine both trips in one day. And if it rains, the Demänovská Cave of Liberty is open almost all year.