Stramberk

Stramberk climbs a steep limestone hill in the Beskydy foothills, its timber and half-timbered cottages stepped up the slope around a sloping square, with the castle above it reduced to one round tower - Truba, climbable, the town's landmark. The hill is a limestone reef, quarried on one side, and the Sipka cave in it produced a Neanderthal child's jaw fragment in 1880, one of the important early finds of that kind in Central Europe. The town's product is Stramberske usi, Stramberk ears: thin spiced honey biscuits rolled into cones, with EU protected geographical indication, sold from shops around the square. The name comes from a legend that a Tatar raiding force was destroyed here in 1241 and that sacks of severed ears were found in their camp - a story with no historical support, which the town nonetheless tells.

History

Štramberk is first mentioned in 1211, as a village beneath the castle of the same name, whose origin and age are unknown. In 1359 the Moravian margrave John Henry founded the town on the site of the village and granted it privileges that helped it grow. From the 15th century it was a centre of the Unity of the Brethren, and in 1624 it passed to the Jesuits. The town was attacked and devastated several times in the Thirty Years' War and the castle badly damaged; in 1783 its front part collapsed and the masonry was taken down. Limestone quarrying began in the second half of the 19th century and brought new growth, and the railway arrived in 1881 (Wikipedia, Štramberk).

What to look for

• Timber cottages up a hill - stepped around a sloping square below the tower.
• The Truba tower - the round survivor of the castle, climbable.
• Sipka cave - where a Neanderthal jaw fragment was found in 1880.
• Stramberk ears - cone-rolled spiced biscuits with EU protected status.

When to go

April to October. A day.

Good to know

The town is steep and cobbled throughout. The tower and cave close in bad weather and outside season. It is very busy on summer weekends. The Tatar ear legend is folklore, not history.

Nearby

Koprivnice and the Tatra museum are close; Novy Jicin is west.

Key facts