Bardejov is a town in the Prešov region. It is located in North-Eastern Slovakia, in the tourist region of Šariš. There are a few places in Slovakia that can boast of such richness of historical sights and movable items of historical value like Bardejov. Among other things, this is also due to the fact that this territory used to be an important transit area.
Since Ancient Times, influences from the West, the East, the North and the South have met and intertwined there to an extent not seen anywhere else in Slovakia. In the course of centuries, a specific living environment, characterized by multiculturalism, multiethnicity, and multireligiousness has formed. The area has also been a contact zone of two big world cultures: the Western, Roman one, and the Eastern, Byzantine one, which overlap there. Bardejov belongs to the easternmost places influenced by the Late Gothics (Basilica minor of St. Egidius).
In contrast to that, local Eastern Rite wooden churches are bearers of the Byzantine culture. It is therefore logical that in the environment of such a cultural, ethnic and religious diversity a lot of precious artistic and historical sights have been preserved.
This historic and spa town for its well-preserved medieval centre was entered into UNESCO World Heritage list in year 2000.
Important role in the preservation, protection, and presentation of historical sights plays Šariš Museum in Bardejov, which is one of the oldest museums in Slovakia. The museum currently documents historical, natural and social situation in the Upper Šariš Region. It manages an extensive collection of more than 700 000 museum items. Its artistic, historical and natural collections belong to the most valuable ones in Slovakia. The Šariš Museum provides nationwide documentation of Eastern Rite icons (Exposition of Icons). The Museum of Folk Architecture, managed by the Šariš Museum, is the oldest open air museum in Slovakia.
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