Welcome
The first written mention about village Zboj comes from the year 1567. The monument of village is the Church of St Nicolas the Bishop (1706). It is a three-room wooden cabin church with presbytery with a nave of square ground. The Church was transported to the museum in Bardejov in 1966. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful wooden churches in the Carpathian Mountains.
Peter Lodij, the philosopher and jurist, was born here in 1764.
Village Zboj is situated in the northwestern part of the Bukovské hills, inside a beautiful Carpathian nature in the valley of the Zbojský stream. It borders on the Ukraine in the southeast and on Poland in the north. Area of the village has 5055ha with 356m to 1188m of height above sea level. The whole area lies in the National Park Poloniny. To the places very frequently visited belong the National Nature Reservations Riaba skala and Stinská where a cave was discovered in 2003. There are also the Nature Reservations Bahno, Stinská slatina and Borsušiny.
The wooden Greek Catholic church of St. Nicholas, 1706
The Greek Catholic wooden church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is considered one of the most beautiful rustic wooden churches in the territory. It was built in 1706. During WWII was the village of Zboj in the middle of the hardest battles, and thus both, village and the wooden church were severely damaged. Even when the church was later restored, local people built in the meantime a brick church, and wooden church from Zboj was dismantled in 1967 and rebuilt again in Bardejovské Kúpele.
The building consists of three parts, three spaces with three towers and three crosses. The church has rustic construction. The shelter and tower have pillar construction. The entrance is on the western side. Roofs, having shape of pyramids, are shingle-covered. The roof over the sanctuary has a round form. Above the main tower is a small roof instead of an onion dome, cone and simple three-bared cross. The endings above the nave and sanctuary are similar.
In the church is one of the most beautiful and well preserved iconostasis from the 18th century. It has its architecture of four row architecture on four levels. Deaconal doors have no leaves; royal doors have two leaves. On the royal doors are six medallions with four Evangelists and two medallions with the Annunciation. The first row has four main icons: St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Theotokos (Hodigitria), Christ the Teacher and icon of Three Holy Hierarchs (St. Basil the Great, St. John Chrysostom, St. Gregory the Theologian). The second row consists of icons of the feasts, with Last (Mystical) Supper in the middle. The third row of apostles has an icon of Christ the High Priest in the middle. The fourth row of prophets is displayed in twelve medallions, arranged in three half circles. Depicted at the top of the iconostasis is the scene from Calvary with the crucified Christ from the 17th century, with Theotokos and St. John the Evangelist on the sides, but atypically in reverse places.
Welcome to the easternmost valley of the Slovak Republic
The ULIČ Valley is the easternmost corner of Slovakia full of traditions, culture and unspoilt countryside.
Nine picturesque villages (Nová Sedlica, Zboj, Uličške Krivé, Ulič, Kolobasov, Prislop, Runina, Topola, Rusky Potok ) with their hospitable inhabitants in the lap of The Bukovske Mountains and widespread pastures, a charming world of blooming valleys, steep hillsides and dense forests, a world of mountain springs and a real oasis of healing and calm await you...
The unspoilt natural environment offers one of the most interesting and most attractive tourist areas of Eastern Slovakia - The Poloniny National Park which covers 29, 805 hectares. Highest and easterner point of Slovakia is Kremenec 1, 221 metres above sea level, where the borders of three countries Slovakia, Poland and The Ukraine meet. Apart from a number of unique natural sceneries, you can see the one of the oldest Virgin Forest in Europe “The Stužica”.
The valley offers visitors various tourist activities throughout the year. You can do hiking trips along the mountain ridges, skiing or cycling holidays, take the ride on horse, etc.
The ecologically clean environment enables visitors to go fruit picking, especially mushrooms, and wild fruits.
The Ulič Valley also boasts interesting cultural and historic monuments. The most famous are the national cultural religious buildings of folk architecture dating back to the 18th century - baroque wooden churches with unique icons. You can see them in the villages of Topola, Ruský Potok and Ulič Krivé ( two wooden churches was relocated to open museum in Bardejov Spa from Zboj and church from Nová Sedlica relocated in Humenné).
Authentic folklore is still retained in this area. It has survived due to folk festivals, which are traditionally held in summer. One of the biggest folk cultural-sports festivals is held in Ulič.
Google street view will give you pretty good picture of eastern valley of Slovakia :-)