Prešov

Prešov grew rich on the salt worked at nearby Solivar, and the money went into the long lens-shaped square at its centre, lined with Gothic and Renaissance burgher houses with painted and sgraffito fronts. The town is the seat of three cathedrals, Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic and Orthodox, which reflects the mix of eastern Slovakia. At Solivar on the edge of town the seventeenth-century salt extraction works survive as a museum, with the shaft, the horse-driven hoist and the evaporation halls kept as they were left.

What you actually see

• The long square - a lens-shaped centre of Gothic and Renaissance houses.
• The Rakoczi palace - a Renaissance house with a decorated attic front.
• The three cathedrals - Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic and Orthodox seats.
• Solivar - seventeenth-century salt extraction works preserved as a museum.

When to go

April to October is the most comfortable. Solivar keeps museum hours and closes on Mondays. Summer brings events to the square.

Honest expectations

Solivar is on the edge of town and needs separate transport and time. Some square facades are in poor repair. Museums are labelled in Slovak.

Nearby

Kosice is south, and Bardejov is north.