Bata. Novesta. Walter Fischer.
In 1939, Jan Antonin Bata, the Slovak Henry Ford, established the Bata shoe production factory.
Over the next several years, a town, Partizánske, grew up around the factory.
He didn´t anticipate, many years later, that Bata shoes would walk the streets of Istanbul or Tokyo.
Novesta, established in the same year, didn´t anticipate becoming a hipster and street style sneaker love brand,
beloved even by Madonna´s brother.
Also that year, Walter Fischer, a Bata factory employee, decided to take a walk to the Black Castle. He didn´t
come back, and was found several months later, bewildered and with numerous burns. He couldn’t have
anticipated, his story would offer inspiration to writers, filmmakers, conspiracy theories fans, and curious
tourists.
Partizánske, the 80-year-old town, gazing at an unassuming and mysterious mountain range.
Mountains, located an hour from Bratislava, hand in by three other towns Nitra, Zlaté Moravce and Topolčany.
Mountains thrusting into the Podunajská nížina lowlands to the south.
Mountains greeting to the north their brothers, the extinct volcanos, Vtáčnik and Považský Inovec and to the
west rubbing shoulders with the volcanic Štiavnické vrchy mountains.
Tríbeč mountains.
Grown to the height of 835m, with a ridge length of 50km and a width of 20km.
From the bicycle saddle, raidable within one day.
In hiking boots, surmountable within two.
Imagine all the beauty offered by the 36 marked 200km long hiking trails!
Caves, rifts and chasms call for curiosity and carefulness.
Herds of moufflons inspire Nikons, Canons, iPhones, Samsungs or GoPros into hands to take the finest pictures
and videos.
Strong walls of medieval castles scattered liberally, sing romantic stories, and in their interior, the voice of
Matúš Čák Trenčiansky, ancient lord of this region, speaks aloud.
Ancient settlements of mystic Celtic and Dacian tribes uncover the art of gold mining and minting.
Abandoned homesteads of earlier German settlers sadly still hold their passion for farming, fruit growing and
mining.
Neighboring manor houses invite for cup of tea accompanied by the silhouette of the former Czechoslovak
president Tomas Garrique Masaryk.
But why is this mountain range so shadowed in secrets?
Locals believe in a supernatural power dwelling in the forest.
Tríbeč triangle or the hills of mystery, its nicknames.
Over the years many have disappeared in these mountains.
A woodsman Šamsaly, 18-year-old Mary Švajzerová, the married couple Belanovič. Names of people who never
came home and were included in The Slovak X Files.
Mystic and secret stories are attractive.
Let´s discover the secrets of the Tríbeč mountains, following Albert Einstein´s words: “The most beautiful thing
we can experience is the mysterious”.
