Stará Hora – Sebechleby Folk Architecture Reservation

Stará Hora – Sebechleby is situated in the Modrý Kameň viticultural area on the slopes of the Štiavnicke Hills, south of the district town of Krupina. A collection of viticultural cellars may be found here outside the town boundaries at a site called Stará Hora (Old Mountain). One tradition has it that they were created in the 16th century as shelters dug out of the rocks to protect from invasions by the Turks. According to other oral traditions, locals commissioned the Banská Štiavnica miners to dig cellars (‘holes’) as a place to store wine. Reports suggesting grapevine growing date from the 17th century. These seasonally-used constructions comprise two types of structures. The oldest take the form of viticultural cellars simply dug up into the slope. The younger type is represented by viticultural houses made of stone, smeared with clay and whitewash, with the basement floor used for the preparation and production of wine. Adjacent to the preparation room is the living space, with hay stored in the loft. Roofs are mostly hipped or gabled, with slab gables. The oldest inscription found on of the preserved cellars dates from 1707. The dominant building of the housing development is the chapel of Saint Urban, the patron of viticulture, which dates from 1732. In all there are 89 structures here that have been proclaimed national cultural monuments.

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