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Spiš (Hungarian: Szepes, German: Zips) is a historic region in north-east Slovakia near the Polish border. A small portion of the historic Hungarian Szepes county is on the Polish side.

Regions

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Spiš in Slovakia

Traditionally, the region is divided into:

Towns and cities

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Lower-Spiš

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Middle-Spiš

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  • 7 Kežmarok. Historic germanic city (Käsmark) known for its baroque church and castle at the feet of High Tatras
  • 8 Levoča. A well-preserved city center on the list of UNESCO World Heritage list.
  • 9 Poprad. At the feet of Tatra National Park, it's the entrance to High Tatras.
  • 10 Spišská Belá.
  • 11 Spišské Podhradie. With the nearby Spiš Castle - one of the largest castles in Europe, which for many centuries was the major centre of power in the region. A fortified monastery Spišská Kapitula. Listed in UNESCO.
  • 12 Ždiar. A town in Tatras, with original folk traditions and ethnographic museum.

Upper-Spiš

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Other destinations

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Suspension bridge in Slovak Paradise National Park

National parks:

Understand

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Talk

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Whilst historically the major languages of the region were Hungarian and German, today Slovak is spoken throughout. The Spis region has a notable presence of minorities: Gypsies, Rusyn-Ukrainians, and Gorals. These often keep their languages and traditions alive in their own separate villages. Until the Second World War there were also large German and Jewish populations; the latter were deported to their deaths in German camps by the Slovak puppet government during World War II, (mostly by train from Poprad station), and the Germans were largely expelled after the war.

Get in

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Poprad is the biggest city in Spiš. It has its own airport (the most elevated one in Europe) as well as a railway station. Trains connect Poprad with Bratislava in the west as well as with Košice in the east.

Get around

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See

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Winter in Poprad

Itineraries

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Do

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Eat

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Drink

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Stay safe

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Go next

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This region travel guide to Spiš is an outline and may need more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. If there are Cities and Other destinations listed, they may not all be at usable status or there may not be a valid regional structure and a "Get in" section describing all of the typical ways to get here. Please plunge forward and help it grow!