Sebechleby Stará Hora

Stará Hora is a settlement of around a hundred and fifty small houses and cellars on the hillside above Sebechleby, built not to live in but to work the vineyards: each family had a press house above and a cellar cut into the tuff below, used through the harvest and the year for keeping wine. The cluster has been protected as a reservation since 1981. Several cellars still function and a few take visitors by arrangement.

What to look for

• The press houses - small buildings clustered on the vineyard hillside.
• The rock cellars - chambers cut into volcanic tuff beneath the houses.
• The settlement pattern - a village built only for wine work, not for living.
• The vineyards - the slopes the whole arrangement exists to serve.

When to go

April to October is the pleasant season, and September and October bring the harvest. Cellar visits need arranging in advance. Winter is quiet and cold.

Good to know

The houses are private and there is no museum; without arranging a cellar visit there is only the outside to see. Facilities are none. The track up is rough.

Nearby

Krupina is northwest, and Banska Stiavnica is north.