Hron River Rafting

Have you heard the legend of the second largest river in Slovakia? Its mother is Kráľova hoľa and its uncle is the Danube. The Hron River was very mischievous in its youth and often troubled the giants who lived in what is now the Banská Bystrica Region.

According to legend, Prince Ďumbier advised the giants to direct the Hron into the Danube. Let it see the world and stop constantly hanging around its mother’s skirts. So the giants did not hesitate and got to work. They built a huge iron plough. They pulled the furrow from below Kráľova hoľa, through narrows and gorges, between rocks and cliffs. On one side the Low Tatras and on the other Rudohorie. To the right Vtáčnik. To the left Štiavnica Mountains. It was quite a tough job, but in the end they made it all the way to the Danube itself. It promised to keep an eye on the young Hron and to send greetings from the Black Sea.

On the way back, the giants met the Hron. It stayed nicely in its riverbed and hurried to flood every little crevice waiting for it. It splashed about enthusiastically. The giants were pulling the huge iron plough home. But it was too heavy, so they decided to leave it there. A few years later, people discovered it and built a castle gate to the town around it. But… that is a completely different story.