This tri-border area is not a typical settlement, but a riveting place located in a beautiful natural environment in the mountains, in proximity to a unique historical monument - the historical ramparts. But let´s get things in order. The triple border or triple point is a place that does not divide, it unites. This is how the meaning and atmosphere of this unique territory could be defined.

In the former Czechoslovakia (Slovakia and the Czech Republic in one federal republic), with a closed border to Socialist Republic of Poland (it was impossible to cross the border at any time), the place was of no meaning and out of attention. Though, under the soil sediments, the history was waiting to be uncovered in form of remains of a rare historical monument - defensive ramparts. Only a few people knew where this part of our history was "buried". When the independent Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland acquired their place in the European Union, the notion of Triple point took on a completely different meaning.

Setting the boundary stone in the ravine, exactly where the borders of the three states meet, was just the beginning. The leaders of all three involved municipalities seized this opportunity and began to create conditions for joining people living at this place just like their ancestors centuries ago. In 2007, the municipality of Čierne built an 18-meter-long wooden footbridge over the ravine, and all municipalities gradually contributed by developing tourist infrastructure - gazebos, fireplaces, tourist seating, and cleaned wells.

Tourists started visiting the tripoint and crossing freely to any of the three countries. The related municipalities were gently creating the conditions for organizing events of European importance in the field of spiritual, sports and social interaction. Many of them have become a tradition.

This is how the Triple Border was discovered and revived in the modern history of Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland. Upon an initiative of the village of Čierne, the construction of a new bridge for tourists on Triple Border is planned, as the original wooden footbridge has already deteriorated due to time and weather. Though, it can be said that it has met its purpose perfectly.

Defensive ramparts in Čierne

Let's have look at the ramparts mentioned above. The ramparts all together establish a system of fortifications built in the late Middle Ages to serve primarily as a defensive barrier against Turkish invasions.

One part of the fortification (several kilometres long) was assembled in the territory of the Čierne, only about 300 meters from the Triple point.

The process of preservation and a currently planned restoration of this valuable historical monument is an interesting story worth mentioning. To save the remains of the historical fortification, the implementation project of the D3 highway had to be revised. It happened, so to speak, "at the eleventh hour", when the construction of the highway had already been traced. Nowadays, the new highway is a functioning transport line set just a short distance from the place where the ancient ramparts are buried. Preparatory work for the reconstruction of Valy called "Malé Šance" in historical maps is being underway now.

The place is accessible from Čierne – Vyšný koniec on the new asphalt cycling path. You can either turn and go along the forest path to Trojmedzie or go down from Valy to the international cycling route – Rout of Friendship to Poland.

Autor: OCR Kysuce