Trip to Jasov

On Saturday 20th of October ESN Košice organized a one-day trip to Jasov. 18 Erasmus students were accompanied by ESN Košice members Lenka Janovcová, Martina Palenčárová, Mária Brezová and Veronika Eibenová. The last two mentioned come from Jasov so Erasmus students were introduced to the place by the locals. Thanks to the girls we could taste apples grown in Jasov as well as delicious home-made cookies.

Although Jasov is a rather small place there is a lot to see. Firstly, we visited Jasov Monastery – the biggest monastery complex in Slovakia. Although the present complex was built in the 18th century, there has been a monastery since 1170 – it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Nevertheless, the St. John Baptist Church that is a part of the complex is considered one of the Slovak most important late-Baroque buildings. It dominates the landscape of Jasov with its two towers. Apart from this church we visited a large garden belonging to the monastery and a monastery library that contains 45 000 books, some of them dating back to the 16th century.

From the monastery we continued to the Jasovská Cave. The cave belongs to UNESCO World Heritage and it is the oldest publicly accessible cave in Slovakia - it was partly opened for the public in 1846. After having enjoyed beautiful world made of stones we took a break for lunch and then continued to Jasov Cliff. As we were lucky to have wonderful sunny weather we could see the surroundings clearly. The large complex of monastery seemed very small from the top. On our way back we took a walk around the Jasov fishpond. There, we took delight in beautiful colours of an autumn forest. We left Jasov filled with new information, experience, and sensation of beauty.