Bardejovské Kúpele Open-Air Museum of Folk Architecture

Slovakia’s oldest open-air museum

The Museum of Folk Architecture in the spa resort of Bardejovské Kúpele opened to visitors in 1965 — the first open-air museum in Slovakia. It belongs to the Šariš Museum in Bardejov and covers 1.6 ha of a shady spa park. It brings together 31 buildings that show the daily life and building traditions of two communities of the country’s north-east — the Slovaks and the Rusyns of Upper Šariš and northern Zemplín. Most of the buildings date from the 19th and 20th centuries and belong to Carpathian-type timber architecture; the oldest come from the first half of the 18th century.

The houses were moved here from surrounding villages and furnished with the furniture and tools of the time they were built. So the museum reads like a walk through a village: a poor farmer’s cottage from Frička (1887), cottages from Hrabová Roztoka and Petrová (1896), a dwelling from Malcov (1899), granaries, barns, a well and a fruit drier.

What to see

• Wooden Eastern-rite churches. The Church of St Nicholas from the village of Zboj, moved here in 1967, is one of the museum’s symbols. Nearby, just outside the fence, stands the Greek Catholic church from Mikulášová, built in 1730, moved to the spa as early as 1931 and restored in 2005. Next to them are a belfry with a gate from Nižný Orlík (1763) and a chapel of St John of Nepomuk.
• Technical monuments. The most valuable exhibit is a water-powered boring machine used to make wooden (mostly pine) water pipes for Bardejov; part of the mechanism dates from the 18th century. Another rare device is a fulling mill from Livov for thickening woollen cloth (1888).
• A smithy from Abrahámovce from the 1930s and a field pottery kiln.
• An apiary with wooden hives, including the oldest dated beehive in Slovakia — from 1691.
• The ethnographic exhibition in Villa Rákoci — another branch of the Šariš Museum in the spa: the history of the resort, an old pharmacy and the crafts of our ancestors. It is easy to see on the same combined ticket.

A visit takes about an hour; the level park paths suit families with children, although some house entrances have thresholds and steps.

Practical information

The spa of Bardejovské Kúpele lies a few kilometres north of Bardejov; the museum is inside the spa area, so it combines easily with a stroll through the park and colonnade. Town buses run here from Bardejov, and you can also come by car.

The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday: from 1 May to 30 September 10:00–12:30 and 13:00–18:00, from 1 October to 30 April 9:00–12:00 and 12:30–15:30; last entry 30 minutes before closing (as of October 2026). A ticket costs €5, reduced €3, children aged 6–15 €2.50. A combined ticket for the open-air museum and the ethnographic exhibition in Villa Rákoci is €7, and a family ticket for one exhibition €10. Organised groups can arrange visits outside the timetable.

Nearby

In the spa itself are the mineral springs and pools of Bardejovské Kúpele. A few kilometres south is Bardejov’s medieval centre, a UNESCO site. Further south-west stands the wooden church in Hervartov, and to the east, near Svidník, the Lemko churches of Ladomirová and Bodružal.

Official website: muzeumbardejov.sk

Photos: SchiDD, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; ElaWoReAfro, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Akul59, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.