Starina Reservoir in Poloniny National Park

A lake with a village beneath it

Starina is the largest drinking-water reservoir in Slovakia and, according to Slovak sources, the largest source of drinking water in Central Europe. It lies at the very east of the country, in north-eastern Zemplín, in the cadastre of Stakčín in the Snina district. The dam was built on the upper Cirocha river in the Bukovské vrchy hills, inside Poloniny National Park, in 1981–1988 to supply eastern Slovakia, above all Prešov and Košice, with water.

The reservoir holds 59.8 million m³ and covers 311 ha; the dam is 50 m high and 345 m long. Behind its beauty lies a dramatic story: from 1980, to create a protection zone for the source, the inhabitants of seven Rusyn villages were moved out — Starina, Veľká Poľana, Zvala, Smolník, Dara, Ostružnica and Ruské. The village of Starina itself now lies under the water.

What to see

• Views of the water and forests. The shores are covered by beech forests of the Bukovské vrchy; access to the water itself is restricted, but you can admire the reservoir from viewpoints and the hiking routes around it.
• Traces of the vanished villages. Ostružnica left a First World War cemetery and the ruins of an 1806 church, Smolník a war cemetery. In Veľká Poľana one house survives, along with a rotunda memorial in the war cemetery, ruins of a 1784 church and a wayside cross of 1885. In Dara stands a small masonry Orthodox church of 1956, and in Zvala a chapel on the site of the old church. Near Ruské are a war cemetery, a chapel and the old stone road Porta Rusica, a technical monument.
• The Poloniny Trail cycle route. The asphalt “Zubor” section, 14.3 km long, runs from the Beskydy Pantheon along the reservoir to the former village of Ruské (about 290 m of ascent, easy, suitable even for bikes with child trailers). Stronger riders can continue up to Ruské sedlo on the Polish border.

Practical information

The nearest towns are Snina and Stakčín; from there a road along the Cirocha leads to the reservoir by car or bike (the Poloniny Trail starts in Snina). The reservoir and its surroundings are strictly protected as a first-degree water-source protection zone, so public access is limited. Swimming is forbidden, as is polluting the area; on open paths the rule is to pass through without stopping. In 2024 the reservoir’s operator, the Slovak Water Management Enterprise, put up prohibition signs on an 800-metre section of the cycle route and required cyclists to register at the gatehouse at the entrance to the protection zone — check the current rules before you go (as of October 2026 we found no updated official information).

Poloniny National Park is open all year. Forests cover 80% of it, including UNESCO-listed primeval beech forests, and a small herd of European bison was brought here in 2004 and numbered about 25 animals in 2016; bison from Poland also wander across. Poloniny is also known for the darkest night sky in Central Europe — the stars here are visible as in few other places.

Nearby

In Ruská Bystrá stands a UNESCO-listed wooden church. To the north-west are Krásny Brod Monastery and the Andy Warhol museum in Medzilaborce, and to the south Zemplínska šírava and the Morské oko lake in the Vihorlat.

Official website: presovregion.travel

Photos: Twips, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Michal Kriška, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Slovcoiner, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.