This place is worth a stop and a photo of the Slanický Ostrov Island with Babia Góra on the horizon. On the island, you can see a church. How did it happen to build a church in the middle of a lake… well, the church is the last remain of a village Slanica. It was built as the churches in towns here were usually built, on the top of a hill which. It turned into an island after the construction of the Orava reservoir. It was desacralized and nowadays houses an exposition of wooden sculptures and a gallery of photos of villages that were covered with the waters of the lake. The interior of the church was taken to a Museum in Dolný Kubin. Around the church, an interesting “cemetery” was constructed: some low relieves and tombstones from the villages were composed in stone blocks. There are ferries to the island during the summer season (and not many…).
Orava Lake - with an area of some 35 square km it is the biggest in area (but not in capacity) artificial lake in Slovakia. It was built near a place where White and Black Orava rivers met, in a narrow passage between Uhlisko and Krivina mountains. It was created to protect the lower situated lands from the floods that had regularly occurred, as both Oravas are mountain rivers. The construction started in 1941 and was finished 14 years later. Several villages disappeared underwater and two islands were created. This lake is not as popular as Liptov Lake nor as the much smaller Czorsztyn Lake in Poland; somehow it’s not very known by the Polish who form the biggest tourist group here. On the other hand, you can find many places where you can sit down by the lake, relax, not bothered by a presence of other tourists.