The dialect spoken in Kysuce uses the term “cholvarok” to identify a summer shepherd's dwelling with a barn on sticks. However, such buildings are sometimes also called summer residences. These huts were built of wood and stone, i.e. of materials found in nature. They were only used in the summer, when the cattle and sheep were grazing on the hills. The huts provided a place to stable the cattle and to hide the sheep. In some cases, the huts became permanently inhabited but most of them have deteriorated by the time. All that remained were just stone foundations hidden in the overgrown bushes.

The settlement of Brízgalky is a clear exception. The determination of the owners enabled them to preserve this typical shepherd's settlement high in the hills, with a wonderful view of Malá Fatra, even as far as Roháče in the west part of High Tatras. The settlement accessible only on foot is still without electricity, water is given by a mountain spring - just romance.
Brízgalky could by appropriately called a place "where the foxes say good night", but according to the locals, I would rename it "where the bears say good night" because there are reportedly up to 7 of them occurring in the vicinity of the hamlet.

Despite its inaccessible position high on the hills, this settlement has a very rich past associated with several important people. It is difficult to believe that the personalities such as Václav Havel, Oľga Havlová, Prince Schwarzenberg, Třešňák, Vladimír Merta, Ján Langoš and many others have all been here. And what is more, their time spent in Brízgalky was not purely the time of entertainment or recreation. Several dissidents met here during the totalitarian regime not only to find mental and physical recovery in the middle of nowhere. They used to gather in this remote place to discuss political conditions and the possible ways of achieving a change in the society. Of course, such a concentration of dissidents could not remain unnoticed by the Secret State Police (ŠTB) and during the years of normalization the settlement was monitored abnormally.

Nowadays, the settlement lives its peaceful life and, thanks to the cottagers, it has been preserved in its original state from the first half of the 20th century. Hats off to these enthusiasts.

Autor: OCR Kysuce