A church that serves as a reminder to an extinct village

#aprilblooms The village of Horné Opatovce was founded in 1075 and was once one of the largest in the Žiar Valley. Before the industrial revolution, its inhabitants lived by hunting and agriculture. The village was evacuated due to unbearably deteriorated living conditions. This situation arose in 1953 after the construction of the SNP Plant north of the village, with north winds carrying emissions of fly ash, hydrogen fluoride, mercury, and arsenic. First, the bees died out, followed by other insects and plants. Subsequently, the health condition of the people from the village began to worsen, and the children became increasingly sickly. Their spines were becoming deformed, and their teeth decayed more frequently. The situation was unbearable, and so, at the end of the 1950s, the local council decided that the village had to be evacuated. Before its demise, the village had 228 houses and 1,380 inhabitants. The relocation of the village's inhabitants took almost 10 years. The older generation took it hard; many did not come to terms with it and eventually passed away. Many family and friendship ties were broken. Today, all that remains of the village is the Church of St. Lawrence, a cemetery beside the main road, a run-down school building, and a memorial. The natives have also created a faithful scale model of the village of Horné Opatovce. They themselves meet in the area once a year.