Icon Exhibition of the Šariš Museum, Bardejov

The "Icons" exhibition of the Šariš Museum (Šarišské múzeum) in Bardejov is the only separate specialised exhibition of Eastern-rite icon painting in Slovakia. It occupies the house at Town Hall Square 27, entered from Rhodyho Street, right in the heart of Bardejov's UNESCO-listed historic centre. For Ukrainians it is one of the most important collections of Carpathian sacred heritage abroad: here you can see how the icon developed in the wooden churches of the Lemkos and Rusyns of north-eastern Slovakia.

The Šariš Museum is one of the oldest in Slovakia: it opened on 21 December 1903 as the museum of Šariš County, and its first exhibition was set up in 1907 in Bardejov town hall. Today the museum looks after more than 700,000 items and documents Eastern-rite icons on a national level. Icons from its collections have been shown at the EXPO '70 world fair in Osaka, in Brussels in 1973 and in Hungary, Germany and Poland; for the Japanese exhibition postage stamps were even issued with their motifs, and in 2001 another stamp featured a detail of an icon of St Michael the Archangel.

What to see

• Icons on wood from the 16th to the 20th century, arranged so that visitors can follow the development of Carpathian icon painting, from austere early images to Baroque and later works.
• A 16th-century Deesis row and a group of icons from the same period, among them a Hodegetria and St Michael the Archangel.
• A complete Rococo iconostasis of 1766 from the wooden church in the village of Zboj and, since the reinstallation of 2005, also the iconostasis from Borov and restored icons from the stores.
• Icons on canvas depicting the Last Judgement, embroidered liturgical vestments and church furniture.

The origin of many works is known: one of the Deesis rows comes from the wooden Church of St Michael the Archangel in Šarišský Štiavnik, the image of Michael the Archangel from the Church of St Demetrius in the village of Rovné, and some icons from the iconostasis of the church from Mikulášová, which was moved to Bardejovské Kúpele in 1931.

The exhibition is not very large but is densely packed: it brings together the finest pieces from different villages of the Šariš region, making it a good "introduction" before visiting the wooden churches of the area.

Practical information

Bardejov is a town in the north of the Prešov region, about 20 km from the Polish border; buses and a branch railway line from Prešov lead there. The entrance on Rhodyho Street is a few minutes' walk from the main square. The exhibition is open Tuesday to Sunday with a lunch break from 12:00 to 12:30; a standard ticket costs €6, but the joint ticket with the historical exhibition in the town hall and the natural history exhibition is better value. 45–60 minutes is enough for a visit. Organised groups can arrange visits outside regular hours.

Nearby: trails and peaks

The Pred Čuntavou – Dukliansky Pass route passes through Bardejov, and from the town you can set off on the short walk Bardejov, Mníchovský potok – Bardejov, Vinbarg. Next to the exhibition is Bardejov: historic town centre and St Giles’ Basilica, and 4 km away in the spa is the Bardejovské Kúpele Open-Air Museum of Folk Architecture with wooden churches in the open air. Another large collection of icons can be seen in the Dezider Milly Gallery in Svidník.

Official website: muzeumbardejov.sk

Photos: J.Dncsn (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Amudena Rutkowska, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.