Ždiar Folk Village

<p>Ždiar is often mentioned alongside Vlkolínec as an example of traditional Slovak mountain architecture, but the comparison only goes so far — Vlkolínec is a preserved open-air museum settlement, while Ždiar is a living village where many of the painted wooden houses along the main street are still lived in.</p>
<p>In winter the village sits beneath snow-covered peaks of the Belianske Tatry, and its position close to several smaller ski resorts (Strachan, Ždiar-Strednica) makes it a base for visitors who prefer a quieter village stay over a purpose-built resort hotel.</p>

<p>Ždiar was settled by Wallachian shepherds in the 16th and 17th centuries, and its isolation in a valley cut off from the rest of Spiš by mountains preserved a distinct architectural style and folk costume, both still visible in the village today and documented at the small local ethnographic museum, Ždiarsky dom.</p>

<p>The main street runs past dozens of painted timber houses with steep shingled roofs, a style specific enough to the Ždiar area that it's sometimes called Ždiar architecture in Slovak folk studies. A handful of houses are open to visitors, most notably Ždiarsky dom, furnished as a 19th-century farmhouse.</p>
<p>Beyond the architecture, Ždiar is a practical base for the Belianske Tatry, a smaller and less-visited range than the main High Tatras next door, with hiking trails that stay open later into autumn than the higher central peaks.</p>