“The dragon that has been related to the valley of Demänovská dolina from of old has finally been given a real form. The 1.2-tonne piece of work made by the artist blacksmith Vladimír Eperješi is a symbol of the figure that deserves to belong to a locality surrounded by legends, stories and fairytales. Our Damian doesn´t scare people. Children will love his looks, adults will admire every detail of the masterpiece. There is a copper bell of luck in one of dragon´s heads that visitors can ring. The sculpture will come to life for the first time during Saturday´s night, which will began a tradition of dragon nights on Mt. Chopok,“ says Sylvia Artzová, the marketing director for campaigns and the Low Tatras, on the dragon-project.
Vladimír Eperješi was working intensively for 4 weeks to complete the sculpture. “Making a dragon sculpture is really specific. I was studying dragons every day, each of them is different. Dragons are myths, nobody has ever seen them. But we believe they existed. I felt very good when working on this project as I was given a free hand and could use my fantasy. And I am very happy about it. I have created something like never before. I was changing cold iron to an object from a historical legend. Why should I not be happy?“ laughs Eperješi. As he went on, the dragon-project was not easy to do. “The anatomy of the body gave me the hardest time, and so did the mechanism that will bring the dragon to life every hour. It is a piece of work that combines several professions: smithery, locksmithery, welding, tinsmithing and artistic design. I put everything I had into the work. I put my heart and soul into it,“ confessed the author.
The Dragon night will partially reveal the secrets of Mt. Chopok at night which are not available for common visitors that easily. The night cable car transport from both sides of Mt. Chopok is unique as well. The castle of Rotunda will open its rooms with the dreaming princesses inside: the Princess and the Pea, the Snow White and the Sleeping Beauty. Visitors can look forward to a rich programme with Talostan the magician, Rotundola the fortune teller, King Choposlav but mainly ghosts that appear only once a year, during the Dragon Night on Mt. Chopok.
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Tatry mountain resorts, a.s. is a top subject in the field of tourism in Central and Eastern Europe, which owns and operates attractive ski resorts and hotels. These include the resort Jasná Low Tatras and the following hotels in the Low Tatras: Wellness hotel Grand Jasná, Boutique Hotel Tri studničky, Chalets Záhradky De Luxe, Mountain Hotel Srdiečko and Million Star Hotel. TMR also owns Aquapark Tatralandia, the largest Slovak water park with all-year operation, which offers a lot of water and other entertainment, a Tropical Paradise – a special tropical hall with sea water, a Fun Park and accommodation in bungalows and suites of the Holiday Village Tatralandia. In the High Tatras, TMR owns and operates resorts Tatranská Lomnica, Starý Smokovec and cooperates the resort of Štrbské Pleso. It also owns the following hotels: Grandhotel Praha Tatranská Lomnica, Grandhotel Starý Smokovec and Hotel FIS Štrbské Pleso. TMR owns 19% of the Melida, a.s. company, which leases and operates the mountain resort Špindlerův Mlýn in the Czech Republic. In Poland, TMR owns the resort of Szczyrk. The company also owns and rents hotels Slovakia, Kosodrevina, Liptov and Ski&Fun Záhradky and Bungalows. More than 190 million Euros were invested by the end of 2013 in the above mentioned resorts, to support development and modernisation. The TMR shares are traded on three European stock exchanges – in Bratislava, Prague and Warsaw.