Tourism

Calvary built on a hill called Háj is a significant historical monument of Považská Bystrica city. Since most of archives today are lost or stolen, we know only fragmentary information about the history of Calvary. The basic source of the monument book was the book called Protocolon privilegiati oppidi Vágh-Beszterce fieri curvit anno from 1716, which recorded events of Považská Bystrica history up to the 70s of the 19th century. Initiative in the Calvary construction was taken over by the city and its prominent townspeople. The chapel of St. Mary Magdalene and a sculptural group of Crucifixion were built during the first phase of the construction. Three crosses of the sculptural group had a Latin cross with straight completion of its arms, on the left side there was crucified a good villain Dismas and on the right side there was crucified a bad villain Desmas. A sculptural group of Jesus, St. Mary Magdalene, Virgin Mary, and St. Ján Evangelist was standing in the middle. Chapels of individual stops were constructed during the second phase of the construction. In 1937, based on data from the municipal chronicles, builder R. Juráčko Jr. repaired the Calvary. In the 50s of the 20th century a chestnut three-row straight alley was set-in between chapels of stops. The second half of the 20th century brought a gradual degradation. From 2014, reconstruction works which resulted in a renovation of St. Mary Magdalene chapel were carried out under supervision of the city. A renewal of individual stops of the Calvary was realized and new sidewalks and greenery were added so that the Calvary could serve its original purpose.