The best running trails in Baba

Invites you to swim. If you are lucky, there are also snacks and drinks at the small bar.

Come to one city, visit six. The present day city of Poprad (53.000 inhabitants) is actually a unification of several smaller settlements. All of them emerged probably after the Mongol (Tatar) invasion in the mid 13th century, when the Hungarian king invited German (Saxon) colonists to the Spiš region. Today’s Poprad is formed of: Spišská Sobota (Georgenberg), Poprad (Deutschendorf - lit. Germans’ Village), Stráže (Michelsdorf), Veľká (Felka), Matejovce (Matzdorf), Kvetnica (Blumental). In 1412 all except Blumental became a part of so called Polish Pledge and belonged to Poland until 1772 (read more in Kežmarok description). Under the Polish rule they developed quickly, maintaining all an equal importance with Sobotá (lit. Saturday) having a leading role, politically and economically, partly because of the Saturday markets’ right. With the construction of the Bohumin - Košice railway in 1871 (an important rail arteria in this part of Europe), Poprad became “ate” the smaller neighbours. The Saxons were majority in some towns and played a very important role in the development of the region. The end of the WW2 and the approaching Soviet troops gave a sad exodus of this seven-century-long history of a multinational city. After WW2 Poprad strengthened its position as a starting point to the Tatras, it has train connections with Prague, Bratislava, Košice and narrow gauge trains to Štrbské Pleso and Lomnica. Also, there is an airport outside the city. Visiting Poprad: TatraVelo route leads through three historic zones - Velká (in the west), the jewel - Spišská Sobota (north-east) and Poprad (south-east). In Poprad and Sobota you can observe the very traditional layout of Spiš town main square, in a shape of a long oval, with parallel streets and houses outside and a stream, churches and shops in the centre. In Poprad, visit the main square (Nám. Sv. Egídia) with the typical 18th and 19th century burgher houses, the 13 century Gothic St Gilles Church (with the oldest painted panorama of the High Tatras - 15th century!, along with other beautiful frescoes), see the Protestant church and the Synagogue (truly multinational town, isn’t it?); Spišská Sobota’s centre is a preserved historic zone, with medieval houses and churches, a true jewel! In St George Church (hence the German name: Georgenberg!) you can see a wooden altar carved by Master Pavol from Levoča, a great local artist;