The Lady of StrečnoPani zo Strečna
Žofia Bosniaková was the first wife of Ferenc Wesselényi and lived at Strečno in the first half of the seventeenth century. She died in 1644, and what happened afterwards is why she is remembered: when her coffin was opened long after her death, the body was found in a remarkably preserved state. To the people of the valley that was not a curiosity of chemistry but a sign, and it fused with what they already said about her — that she had fed and clothed the poor of the estate out of her own hands.Žofia Bosniaková bola prvou manželkou Františka Vešeléniho a žila na Strečne v prvej polovici sedemnásteho storočia. Zomrela v roku 1644 a to, čo sa stalo potom, je dôvodom, prečo si ju pamätáme: keď po dlhom čase otvorili jej rakvu, telo našli v pozoruhodne zachovanom stave. Pre ľudí z doliny to nebola chemická zvláštnosť, ale znamenie — a splynulo s tým, čo sa o nej rozprávalo už predtým: že chudobných na panstve sýtila a odievala vlastnými rukami.
Her preserved body was kept and venerated for centuries in the church at Teplička nad Váhom, a short distance from the castle, where generations came to see her. In 2009 the remains were badly damaged in an attack on the church — a loss the region still talks about. The tradition itself has not gone anywhere: she is remembered here as the good lady of the castle, and her name is attached to the chapel at Strečno and to the story every guide tells.Jej zachované telo po stáročia opatrovali a uctievali v kostole v Tepličke nad Váhom, kúsok od hradu, kam ju chodili vidieť celé generácie. V roku 2009 boli pozostatky pri útoku na kostol ťažko poškodené — o tejto strate sa v kraji hovorí dodnes. Samotná tradícia však nikam nezmizla: pamätajú si ju tu ako dobrú pani hradu a jej meno je spojené s kaplnkou na Strečne aj s príbehom, ktorý rozpráva každý sprievodca.
Not a saint by any register — but the valley has kept her as one.Podľa žiadneho zoznamu nie je svätica — dolina si ju však ako sväticu uchovala.
