Tourism

The Baroque chapel was built in 1728 on a bare hill at the order of earl and the then lord of Považský castle – Peter Sapári. The chapel surrounded by ancient lime trees was built to honour St. Helena. In 1831, Považská Bystrica was affected by cholera which had many victims. The disease had died down permanently on a day of Holy Cross raising in 1831. In memory of this event and as an acknowledgement to God, chapel serves a thanksgiving mass every year on the 14th September. The chapel underwent many repairs, but in 20th century it faced repeated devastation. From the 70s, it became a sanctuary of inhabitants of new residential area with an architecture that together with the chapel creates an interesting contrast. In addition to the construction of the residential area, a six-day International motorcycle competition was also planned, which also contributed to the restoration of the external appearance of the chapel. The chapel was once again damaged in the 80s. Only bare defacement walls and a broken roof remained. The situation has changed in the early 90s thanks to the Polish religionists of the Order of Our Lady of La Salette (saletine) and self-sacrificing work of parishioners. The chapel was repaired, renewed and its foundations were strengthened. However, it was not possible to save the original interior because the entire inner decoration, except statues of St. Joseph and St. Ján Nepomucký was destroyed.