Devin
Devin or the little village in the suburbs of Bratislava is one of the most favorite weekend attraction for the people living in Bratislava. It is a place where you can go to walk, roller skate, ride the bike or simply to enjoy the quiet and sun outside the city. Devin lies exactly at the border between Austria and Slovakia and it is famous for the archeological site of the Devin Castle which is open to public.We usually get to Devin with the bus from the city center and the road is pretty long, around half hour, but the trip is worth it. The end station in Devin is a big square from where you can already see the ruins of the Devin castle. In the square there is a large and beautiful hotel, many wooden shops with food and souvenirs and many street sellers with balloons and children's toys.
End station
Souvenirs shops
View of the castle
With our new toy we started on the road towards the Danube. There is a large and beautiful road and in the weekend full of people. You can see up the ruins of the old Devin castle. The castle was build in the 13th century and because to its strategic position, at the confluence of the Morava and the Danube river, and high up on the hill, it was used to protect the border of the Hungarian Kingdom and to control the trade along the Danube. The most impressive part of the Devin Castle in my opinion is the Maiden Tower high up on a rock on the hill. You can just imagine the view from that tower over the confluence of the two beautiful rivers.
View of he Maiden Tower
View of he Maiden Tower
Devin Castle
Maiden Tower
Devin is the place where the 2 rivers, Morava and Danube meet, actually where the river Morava flows into the Danube. As you walk from the bus station we are going along the Morava bank and then suddenly you come out to a green wide plain and suddenly you can see the 2 rivers meeting, the water touching and the currents hitting one each other. The Danube looks huge and if you can see the 2 different colors of the water where the rivers actually meet. You ca stand there for hours watching the water flow. The air is clean and, the children are playing and people around you are on bikes or roller skates.
Map of Morava flowing into Danube
The meeting of the 2 rivers
The meeting of the 2 rivers
Devin stand also on the border of 2 countries: Slovakia and Austria. However before the revolution in 1989, this was the place where many people tried to cross the river from Czechoslovakia to Austria to escape communism and many of them lost their lives. There is a monument exactly at the place where the rivers meet. It gives you all the time a few moments of quietness and sadness thinking of all the people who didn't make it, who tried to have a better life and are not here today. The sun is shinning, the grass is green, children are laughing, but the monument stand there are a reminder of a dark part of the history which we should never forget.
Monument in the memory of he people who tried to cross he river and died
Monument in the memory of he people who tried to cross he river and died
View of the 2 rivers
After you admired the landscape as much as you want you can start walking along the Danube bank. The road is large and full of people, invaded by sun almost all the year long, there is green grass everywhere, the landscape of the Danube is amazing, there are trees on the bank and here and there some small garden filled with flowers. We walk slowly, there are benches from place to place where we can sit and make pictures or admire the great river.
Walking along the bank of he Danube
Beautiful Danube
Trees along he Danube
Our kid is collecting flowers and is happy to run in the grass, something that she can't do in the city. In front of the houses are sleeping fat cats and the gardens are well taken care off.
Houses along the way
After a very long and slow walk we are entering the village of Devin. It is a very small village with a rustic and rural look. There are long and narrow streets flanked by elegant little houses, with the windows very close to the street and flower pots in the window.
Main road in Devin village
In the middle of the village there is the beautiful, small church called the Church of the Cross. It is a simple white church with a green roof. In the courtyard of the church there are 2 statues dedicated to the saints Cyril and Metod. The legend says that these 2 saints born in Thesaloniki, were the main missionaries for the Slavic people. They introduced them to Christianity and to Cyrillic letters. So they were the ones who brought reading and writing to these parts of the world. Saints Cyril and Metod are so important in Slovakia that they have a national free day in their honor.
Church of the Cross
S. Cyril and Metod
Entrance o the Church
As we are hungry after such a long walk we stop at a very famous traditional Slovak restaurant at the entrance of the Devin village: U Srncika (At the Little Deer). Here we enjoy one of the best meals we ever had: Kapustnica or cabbage soup and the traditional Slovak chicken soup for our kid. Then and amazing fish baked in butter and chicken fingers for the baby.
U Srncika
Kapustnica and Chicken soup
The time is late and the sun is starting to shine to much ad too hot. So we are heading towards the bus station and Bratislava.
With our new toy we started on the road towards the Danube. There is a large and beautiful road and in the weekend full of people. You can see up the ruins of the old Devin castle. The castle was build in the 13th century and because to its strategic position, at the confluence of the Morava and the Danube river, and high up on the hill, it was used to protect the border of the Hungarian Kingdom and to control the trade along the Danube. The most impressive part of the Devin Castle in my opinion is the Maiden Tower high up on a rock on the hill. You can just imagine the view from that tower over the confluence of the two beautiful rivers.
Devin is the place where the 2 rivers, Morava and Danube meet, actually where the river Morava flows into the Danube. As you walk from the bus station we are going along the Morava bank and then suddenly you come out to a green wide plain and suddenly you can see the 2 rivers meeting, the water touching and the currents hitting one each other. The Danube looks huge and if you can see the 2 different colors of the water where the rivers actually meet. You ca stand there for hours watching the water flow. The air is clean and, the children are playing and people around you are on bikes or roller skates.
Devin stand also on the border of 2 countries: Slovakia and Austria. However before the revolution in 1989, this was the place where many people tried to cross the river from Czechoslovakia to Austria to escape communism and many of them lost their lives. There is a monument exactly at the place where the rivers meet. It gives you all the time a few moments of quietness and sadness thinking of all the people who didn't make it, who tried to have a better life and are not here today. The sun is shinning, the grass is green, children are laughing, but the monument stand there are a reminder of a dark part of the history which we should never forget.
View of the 2 rivers
After you admired the landscape as much as you want you can start walking along the Danube bank. The road is large and full of people, invaded by sun almost all the year long, there is green grass everywhere, the landscape of the Danube is amazing, there are trees on the bank and here and there some small garden filled with flowers. We walk slowly, there are benches from place to place where we can sit and make pictures or admire the great river.
Our kid is collecting flowers and is happy to run in the grass, something that she can't do in the city. In front of the houses are sleeping fat cats and the gardens are well taken care off.
After a very long and slow walk we are entering the village of Devin. It is a very small village with a rustic and rural look. There are long and narrow streets flanked by elegant little houses, with the windows very close to the street and flower pots in the window.
In the middle of the village there is the beautiful, small church called the Church of the Cross. It is a simple white church with a green roof. In the courtyard of the church there are 2 statues dedicated to the saints Cyril and Metod. The legend says that these 2 saints born in Thesaloniki, were the main missionaries for the Slavic people. They introduced them to Christianity and to Cyrillic letters. So they were the ones who brought reading and writing to these parts of the world. Saints Cyril and Metod are so important in Slovakia that they have a national free day in their honor.
As we are hungry after such a long walk we stop at a very famous traditional Slovak restaurant at the entrance of the Devin village: U Srncika (At the Little Deer). Here we enjoy one of the best meals we ever had: Kapustnica or cabbage soup and the traditional Slovak chicken soup for our kid. Then and amazing fish baked in butter and chicken fingers for the baby.
The time is late and the sun is starting to shine to much ad too hot. So we are heading towards the bus station and Bratislava.
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