Spišská Sobota in Poprad has a TRENDy restaurant and a flatbread of its own

To my mind, Spišská Sobota is the most beautiful historic part of Poprad. It’s worth the trip even if you’re not a big history fan. I wouldn’t leave without seeing St George’s Church and trying Sobotský Maťko, the local flatbread. You can even walk here from the centre of Poprad.

I wrote this article in 2018. Prices, opening hours and transport connections may have changed since then, so check them before you travel.

Of all the historic parts of Poprad I’ve visited, Spišská Sobota is easily the prettiest. In my article on what to see in Poprad, I mentioned that the town is made up of five parts: central Poprad, Matejovce, Stráže pod Tatrami, Veľká and Spišská Sobota. I saw it while touring the other parts too. History isn’t exactly my cup of tea, but several things here caught my eye, not least a good cup of coffee.

Tip from Milan I’d recommend booking your accommodation as early as you can, because rooms in a good location at a fair price go first. Here you’ll find accommodation offers in the area valid today.

Spišská Sobota: history and what to see

A short history of Spišská Sobota

The first written record of Spišská Sobota dates from 1256. It lies fairly close to the centre of Poprad, so if you like walking, you can easily come on foot. In 1576 the town gained the right to hold fairs, and shoemakers, tailors, furriers and other craftsmen settled here. Its excellent location made Spišská Sobota an ideal place for markets. One remarkable fact: of all the towns in the Spiš region of eastern Slovakia, only Spišská Sobota had a bookshop of its own. That was in the second half of the 19th century, which was very progressive for the time.

What to see in Spišská Sobota

1. St George’s Church
2. The Podtatranské Museum (closed for reconstruction since September 2024)
3. A taste of Sobotský Maťko
4. A TRENDy restaurant and a good café

TIP: In 2018 a double-decker sightseeing bus with an audio guide ran through Poprad as line 8. Today line 8 is an ordinary city bus route, so I’d ask about sightseeing tours at the tourist information centre.

St George’s Church in Spišská Sobota

St George’s Church (Kostol svätého Juraja) is without doubt the landmark that dominates the whole of Spišská Sobota. Inside, the architecture is worth a look, there are five Gothic altars and the decoration is lavish. The stained-glass windows are just as creative and colourful. Each one has its own symbolism and various inscriptions. But only one has an inscription you can read from both sides, inside and out. See if you can spot it.

Queen Elizabeth II visited the church in 2008. Interestingly, many churches from this period have a separate bell tower beside them, for a simple reason: not every church tower could bear the weight of heavy bells. The main altar is the work of Master Paul of Levoča, and I’ve also written about what to see in Levoča. The church holds another unusual treasure: a Holy Sepulchre made to look like theatre scenery.

The Podtatranské Museum in Spišská Sobota

The Spišská Sobota exhibition of the Podtatranské Museum, the regional museum, has been closed for reconstruction since 2 September 2024. It stays closed until further notice. Before you go, it’s worth checking the museum’s website to see whether it has reopened.

I genuinely enjoyed my visit to the museum. The exhibition shows how people in this area once lived, earned a living and kept house. What interested me most was an old vacuum cleaner that looked like part of a chimney. Dragging that round the house every time you hoovered can’t have been much fun.

Right behind the museum is a small garden with wooden statues. There are quite a few of them, and each one has its own symbolism or represents something. They depict slyness, wisdom, humility, a woman with a lamb, a mother with a child, a woodcutter, a shepherd and a woman with a dbanka. In case you’re wondering, a dbanka is a churn for making butter. And inside the museum, I wouldn’t miss the model of the town centre, built entirely from Lego.

Sobotský Maťko, the town’s traditional flatbread

What pleased me most, as someone who is permanently hungry, was finding out that Spišská Sobota has its own traditional flatbread, a posúch, called Sobotský Maťko. You might take it for a pizza, but Sobotský Maťko is made only from traditional, local ingredients. It’s essentially the ‘national dish’ of Spišská Sobota, and it was invented by the Apropo guesthouse (penzión Apropo). It’s something healthy and tasty, made with wholemeal flour and topped only with Slovak ingredients. It’s a pity I didn’t get a photo of it.

Since nothing in life is black and white, Sobotský Maťko comes in several versions too (don’t read this on an empty stomach):

• Sausage and cream, with ram’s horn peppers (long, sweet pointed peppers), onion and garlic
• Ham, with sour cream, spinach and garlic
• Bryndza, with sour cream, bryndza (a soft, tangy sheep’s cheese), cheese and garlic
• Potato, with sour cream, ram’s horn peppers, garlic and onion
• Salami, with sour cream, sausage, garlic and beans

Where to eat and drink in Spišská Sobota

Experience dining is all the rage in Poprad right now, and apart from Spišská Sobota itself, I was also pointed towards Vino & Tapas, a restaurant that even earned recognition from TREND, the Slovak business weekly that also rates restaurants. Seating is limited, so the restaurant recommends booking if you want to eat there. There’s no standard menu, so don’t worry, nobody will bring you schnitzel and chips. Vino & Tapas cooks from a seasonal menu that changes very often. In 2018 the eight-course menu cost about €40. The restaurant in Sobotské námestie, the town’s square, is still open today. According to its website, the tasting menu of eight dishes (five courses and three amuse-bouches) costs €76 per person. You can read TREND’s full review of Vino & Tapas here.

Espresso Bar, a café in Spišská Sobota

I also dropped into a brand-new café that had been open for only a few days when I visited. It’s called Espresso Bar. If you want good coffee with a view of St George’s Church, the window seats are the ones to get. It’s exactly my kind of café: small, a bit hipster and with a good view.

Spišská Sobota is a really pretty part of Poprad, even though the weather didn’t quite play along on my visit. Whether you’re after architecture, history or interesting food on your travels around Slovakia, Spišská Sobota is worth a visit.

I explored Poprad on a press trip organised by the regional tourism organisation Región Tatry (Oblastná organizácia cestovného ruchu Región Tatry). You’ll find more about the region and other interesting stops on their website.