Sestrč

Sestrč is a 999.9 m summit in the Choč Mountains (Chočské vrchy) in the Liptov region of northern Slovakia. It belongs to the Sielnica Hills (Sielnické vrchy) subunit and rises above the villages of Kalameny and Bukovina, near the boundary of the Liptovský Mikuláš and Ružomberok Districts. On the summit stand the ruins of Liptov Castle (Liptovský hrad, also Sielnica Castle or Liptov Old Castle) – once the highest-lying castle in Slovakia and one of the highest in Central Europe. The nearest villages are Kalameny and Liptovská Anna (about 3 km), Lúčky (3 km) and Bukovina (3.5 km).

Sestrč lies between Kráľová (876.6 m) to the south and the Poľana saddle (845 m), which separates it from Sielnická hora (1051.4 m) to the north-north-west. The eastern slopes drop steeply into the Sestrčská dolina, the gentler western ones to the Kalamenianka valley. The eastern side of the ridge running north from the summit to the Poľana saddle is markedly rocky. The prominence is about 200 m.

How to get there / routes

• Red trail Vlachy – Havránok – Bukovina – Sedlo pod Kráľovou – Liptov Castle.
• Yellow trail from Kalameny via Sedlo pod Kráľovou to the castle and on to the Poľana saddle.
• Green trail – the Kalameny – Liptov Castle educational trail with panels on the castle's history.
• The blue trail KST 2701 also crosses the summit.

The whole castle area is open to the public.

What you can see from the top

The summit plateau offers a fine all-round view: the Liptov Basin with the Liptovská Mara reservoir, neighbouring Veľký Choč, and below, the valleys of the Kalamenianka and Sestrč with the village of Malatiná.

Nature and history

People settled on Sestrč very early. There is a cave in the summit rock that was inhabited already in the Eneolithic. Later a Hallstatt hillfort stood here, protected by a high semicircular rampart; bronze objects found on the hill probably date from this period. The castle itself is first recorded in 1262: King Béla IV had it built on the site of a defunct hillfort from the 1st century BC. It served for defence, was destroyed and enlarged several times (13th–14th centuries), and from 1340 it was the seat of Liptov County. In 1431–1434 it was occupied by Hussite troops; in 1454 it passed to Pongrác, who renovated the residential part and strengthened it with an outer parkán wall. After a conspiracy against the king was crushed in 1471, King Matthias Corvinus took the castle and had it completely destroyed.

The original castle consisted of a residential tower, a cistern, a small courtyard and two gates. In the 1980s archaeologists uncovered the remains of two cisterns, a palace and towers, found many arrowheads and smithing material, and reconstructed and conserved the foundations.

Safety, season and rules

Rock cliffs surround the summit plateau – take care on the ruins and near the edge, especially with children. Do not climb the walls or take stones away: the ruins are a monument. In winter the paths are slippery. In Slovakia the Mountain Rescue Service (HZS) operates: 18 300 (+421 18 300); the general emergency number is 112.

Interesting facts

• Liptov Castle was the highest-lying castle in Slovakia.
• King Matthias Corvinus destroyed the castle after the conspiracy of 1471.
• The summit rock holds a cave lived in as early as the Eneolithic.

Photos: Patrik Kunec, CC BY-SA 4.0; Zbooycio, CC BY-SA 4.0; Michal Jakubský, CC BY 3.0; Martingazak, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons.