Discovering Slovakia: Orava dam (Oravska priehrada)

Oravská priehrada (Orava dam) in the Orava region of Northern Slovakia is an artificial lake and the largest dam in Slovakia. While it was being built between 1941 and 1953, several former villages flooded with the best known of them was Slanica, the birthplace of the Slovak intellectual and cleric Anton Bernolak. Today, only a small area of the village is visible as an island. Similarly, two-thirds of Namestovo, a town on the north-western shore of the dam, were inundated, including the historical city centre. The reservoir is a popular holiday area with many attractions like the Orava castle and the wooden church in Tvrdošín nearby.

Na sútoku Bielej a Čiernej Oravy bola medzi rokmi 1941 až 1953 vybudovaná najväčšia priehrada Slovenska – Oravská priehrada. Pre jej výstavbu zatopili niekoľko dedín, medzi nimi aj Slanicu (rodnú dedinu Antona Bernoláka a z vody trčí iba jeden kopček teraz známy ako Slanický ostrov) a dve tretiny Námestova, vrátane historického centra. Priehrada je obľúbené miesto turistiku a oddych. Neďaleko je aj Oravský podzámok s Oravským hradom alebo drevený kostolík v Tvrdošíne.