Turiec bryndza dairy, Turčianske Teplice: bryndza since 1917

More than a hundred years of Turiec bryndza

Turiec is a wide basin between the ridges of the Veľká and Malá Fatra, a land of pastures and old sheep farming. Its southern “capital” is the spa town of Turčianske Teplice with its thermal springs. It was here in 1917 that local farmers, shepherds and dairymen joined forces in the Farmers’ Cooperative Bryndza Dairy (Roľnícka družstevná bryndziareň) to process quality sheep’s milk together into a traditional Slovak product — bryndza.

The dairy quickly became known in the area for honest production and old recipes. Over the century it went through many social and economic changes but, as the present owners stress, kept its identity. Today’s Turčianska bryndziareň carries on that tradition: the milk comes from the foothill pastures of the Veľká and Malá Fatra, and production has been modernised to European standards. The bryndza is made only from Slovak raw materials, without preservatives or artificial additives.

Why go

• Buy fresh bryndza where it is made. The company shop is right in the centre of Turčianske Teplice, with convenient parking by the building.
• Put together a “Turiec basket”. Bryndza, smoked sheep’s cheese, žinčica, Turčan cow’s cheese and local delicacies — among the wooden shelves of a shop styled like a mountain hut.
• Combine it with the spa. The shop is a few minutes’ walk from the spa park, so it is easy to drop in between treatments or walks.

What to taste and buy

The pride of the house is genuine bryndza: “winter” and “summer” bryndza in 125 g packs, regular bryndza and 100% sheep’s bryndza in 250 g, 500 g, 1 kg and 5 kg packs. Bryndza is rich in probiotic cultures — up to a billion beneficial micro-organisms in one gram. It is made of ground sheep’s lump cheese (at least half) with dairy curd, water and salt; the 100% sheep’s bryndza contains sheep’s cheese only. It is eaten on bread with spring onion, added to salads and pasta, but above all used in bryndzové halušky. They are traditionally served with žinčica, a refreshing soured drink made from sheep’s whey, sold here in one-litre bottles.

Also worth trying are the sheep’s cheese — fresh and smoked, which does not run when fried — the milder Turčan cow’s cheese and an original snack, crunchy bryndza wafers (bryndzové oblátky) to go with wine or beer, which make a tasty souvenir of Slovakia.

Practical information

Shop address: SNP 205, 039 01 Turčianske Teplice. About 25 km south of Martin and roughly 50 km from Banská Bystrica over the pass. Trains and buses serve the town; from the station it is a short, level walk to the centre.

Hours (as of October 2026): Monday–Friday 8:00–16:00, Saturday 8:00–12:00, closed Sunday. Shop phone +421 905 784 447, orders: [email protected]. No prices are published on the website. There are no production tours — this is a place to shop.

In 2025 the dairy presented its products at the Agrokomplex fair in Nitra and at the “record dairy breakfasts” of the Grape festival as part of the Slovak Dairy Family project.

Nearby

• Turčianske Teplice spa — thermal springs and baths in the town centre.
• Blatnica Castle and the Gader valley — castle ruins and a valley of the Veľká Fatra.
• Martin — a centre of Slovak culture with the Museum of the Slovak Village below the Malá Fatra.

Official website: turcianska-bryndziaren.sk

Photos: turcianska-bryndziaren.sk.