When the Front Came Over the RidgeKeď cez hrebeň prešiel front
Most Slovak castles were ruined by the eighteenth century and then left alone. Zborov is the exception. In the winter of 1914–1915 the Eastern Front ran through these Carpathian valleys, and the fighting between the Austro-Hungarian and Russian armies came right over this ridge. Trenches were cut into the castle, which was still the highest defensible ground for miles, and the ruin was shelled. It came out of the war considerably more broken than it went in.Väčšina slovenských hradov bola zrúcaninou už v osemnástom storočí a potom ju nechali na pokoji. Zborov je výnimka. V zime 1914 – 1915 viedol cez tieto karpatské doliny východný front a boje medzi rakúsko-uhorskou a ruskou armádou prešli priamo cez tento hrebeň. Do hradu, ktorý bol stále najvyšším brániteľným miestom široko-ďaleko, sa zarezali zákopy a na zrúcaninu dopadali granáty. Z vojny vyšla podstatne rozbitejšia, než do nej vstúpila.
Below in the village lies a large military cemetery of that war, where soldiers of both armies are buried. It is worth walking down to, and it is worth being clear about what it is: a burial ground, not a monument to visit for the view. Go quietly, keep to the paths and leave it as you found it. Between the trenches on the ridge and the graves below, this is one of the few places in Slovakia where a medieval castle and the twentieth century are the same story.Dole v obci leží veľký vojenský cintorín z tejto vojny, kde sú pochovaní vojaci oboch armád. Oplatí sa k nemu zísť — a oplatí sa mať jasno, čo to je: pohrebisko, nie pamätník na obzeranie. Choďte v tichosti, držte sa chodníkov a nechajte ho tak, ako ste ho našli. Medzi zákopmi na hrebeni a hrobmi pod ním je toto jedno z mála miest na Slovensku, kde stredoveký hrad a dvadsiate storočie tvoria jediný príbeh.
A ruin for two hundred years, and then a war found a use for it again.Dvesto rokov zrúcanina — a potom preň vojna znovu našla využitie.
