Slovakia's perfect medieval square — UNESCO, unchanged since the 15th century
Bardejov is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Central Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage Site — its rectangular main square (Radničné námestie) is lined with Gothic and Renaissance burgher houses virtually unchanged since the 15th century. The Gothic Basilica of St Egidius, the old town hall now housing a museum, and the intact city walls with 12 towers encircle a town that feels genuinely lived-in rather than preserved-for-tourists. Nearby Bardejovské Kúpele spa village is a 200-year-old resort where Empress Sisi famously took the waters.
Bardejov received royal city status from the Hungarian king in 1376 and became a prosperous trade stop on the route between Poland and Hungary — the wealth from cloth, salt, and wine trade funded the Gothic churches and merchant houses that still define the skyline. The town's Jewish quarter (Bardejov had one of the oldest Jewish communities in Slovakia, dating to the 14th century) was destroyed during WWII; a reconstructed wooden synagogue in the open-air museum at Bardejovské Kúpele memorializes the community.