Brhlovce

The rock at Brhlovce is volcanic tuff, soft enough to cut with hand tools and hard enough to hold a roof, and from at least the sixteenth century the villagers cut rooms, cellars and stores into it, sometimes putting a built front on a carved interior so that the house looks conventional from the street. Tradition says the practice began as refuge from Ottoman raiding. Several dwellings survive and one is a museum with its interior furnished.

What you actually see

• The rock-cut rooms - interiors carved into soft volcanic tuff behind built fronts.
• The museum house - a carved dwelling furnished as it was lived in.
• The tuff cliffs - the rock face the village is worked into.
• The cellars and stores - carved chambers still used by households.

When to go

April to October is the main season; the museum keeps limited hours and closes in winter. Weekdays are quiet. The site is small.

Honest expectations

Most of the carved houses are private property and only one is open. The museum keeps short hours and may need checking ahead. The village is otherwise ordinary.

Nearby

Levice is southwest, and Sebechleby is northeast.