Andrassy Mausoleum - Krasna Horka castle - Krasna Horka cave - Betliar mansion

Route: Kosice - Andrassy Mausoleum - Krasna Horka castle - Krasna Horka cave - Betliar mansion - Kosice
Duration: 7 h
Our first stop will be at the Andrássy Mausoleum which is an extremely valuable monument of Art Nouveau architecture and sculpture. The family crypt, designed by Munich artists, was built in 1904 by the last male descendant of the Andrássy family - Dionysus - for his beloved wife Franciska and later for himself. The Mausoleum is built from marble of various colours brought from all over the world. The interior of the crypt is luxuriously decorated. There are two sarcophagi of white Carrara marble placed here. On the right side, there are the remains of Francis Andrássy, and on the left side rests Dionysus Andrássy. Next we will visit to the Krasna Horka castle which was built around 1320. The courtyard of the upper part of a rather small castle with triangle-shaped ground plan has been preserved. Fortifications were added to the castle in time of the Turkish threat. Fortifications including three canon bastions and a cannon terrace in the Renaissance style were built. In addition, it was when the interior of the castle got a more homely Gothic-Renaissance shape and when it acquired its present form. Three generations of the Andrássy family tried to obtain the Castle and finally succeeded in 1642. In 1735, the area in front of the castle gates was adapted and the small Baroque chapel of St John Nepomuk was built there.In the second half of the 18th century, one of the bastions was rebuilt into the Baroque-Classicist Chapel of Nativity of the Virgin Mary. On the main altar of the chapel, there is a painting of black Madonna also referred to as the Virgin Mary of Krásna Hôrka, that later on became the reason of processions. Next we will visit to Krásnohorská Cave a unique karst formation, which is registered in The World Heritage List (UNESCO). To visit it also represents compared with visits to other Slovak Caves a unique experience - Attendance is in fact in complete caving gear, including a helmet with light (there is no light installed in the cave). The highlight of the tour of the beautiful underground world is called Stalactite of the Rožňava Cavers, one of the biggest stalactites in the world it was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest. This 34 meters high and 2,000 tons weighing natural wonder is growing at an incredible speed 200 kg per year, which is - taking into account that normally stalactites grow 1 g in several decades - abstruse even for professionals. You will pass the route built up by using wooden footbridges lying above an underground stream, which flows through the main cave passage. Besides, you will climb several ladders and cross two rope traverses hanging above lakes. It is not difficult and visitors enjoy it very much.Next we will visit to magnificent Betliar mansion with original furnishings and collections that attract visitors from all over the world. The manor house dates back to the early 18th century and was built on the foundations of an older Renaissance Bebek's mansion. The mansion was filled by its owners with a number of rare furniture, works of art and collections which consists of paintings, especially paintings of realistm artists of the 19th century , also  you will see collections consists of imported exotic objects and hunting trophies that are not of equal value to art collections. The park is enriched not only by lakes but also by smaller garden buildings (pavilions, grottos, flowmeters). There are also rare exotic trees and the remains of an ancient yew forest. After we will return to Kosice.
Price: per person