Skalka nad Váhom - an old-time legend

- Damned monk, let's get out of here! -

It was the Nitra bishop by the name of Jakub, who founded the first Benedictine abbey at Skalka in 1224, some 5 km of Trenčín. The abbey was to commemorate the first hermits – martyrs called St. Svorad-Andrew and Beňadik. It was near the cave where St. Beňadik was slain and thrown off the rock into the Váh river, where Jakub built a monastery. Later, he built a church on top of the rock massif from which Beňadik’s body was thrown down. The legend of St. Svodar and Beňadik that comes from the bishop Maurus of the middle of the 11^th century, is the earliest legend preserved in Slovakia. The legend has it that the slain monk would keep appearing for a long time in form of a big, black eagle protecting the rafters who were transporting logs of wood down the river, against robbers and bandits. Skalka pri Trenčíne is the place where Christianity in Slovakia started and belongs to the oldest pilgrimage sites in the country. The main pilgrimage is organized on the 17^th of every July to commemorate St. Andrew and Beňadik. This traditional event is attended on average by up to 10 thousand believers from Slovakia and the surrounding countries.