1975–1988 Seven villages under the waterSedem dedín pod vodou

Eastern Slovakia needed drinking water, and the answer was a reservoir at the head of the Cirocha valley. Seven Rusyn villages — Dara, Ostrožnica, Ruské, Smolník, Starina, Veľká Poľana and Zvala — were emptied of their people in the 1970s, and the Starina dam was built between 1981 and 1988. Most of those families were resettled into the new blocks of flats in Snina, which is why the town's estates are full of people whose home village no longer exists; some of the wooden churches were moved elsewhere and survive. The catchment above the water is closed to the public and has been ever since — a large piece of country that people were removed from and nobody may enter.Východné Slovensko potrebovalo pitnú vodu a odpoveďou bola nádrž v závere doliny Cirochy. Sedem rusínskych dedín — Dara, Ostrožnica, Ruské, Smolník, Starina, Veľká Poľana a Zvala — v sedemdesiatych rokoch vysťahovali a v rokoch 1981 až 1988 postavili hrádzu Stariny. Väčšinu tých rodín presídlili do nových sninských sídlisk — preto tu v panelákoch žije toľko ľudí, ktorých rodná dedina už neexistuje; niektoré drevené chrámy preniesli inam a zachovali sa. Povodie nad vodou je verejnosti uzavreté a odvtedy sa to nezmenilo — veľký kus krajiny, z ktorého ľudí odviedli a do ktorého nikto nesmie.