Model of a shepherd's camp

Ladislav Slobodník of Podkonice made this reduced-scale replica of a shepherd's camp using authentic examples. Introduced in 2012, the model includes equipment and an enclosure called a honelnica. Figures of a head shepherd, other shepherds and sheep complete the scene as interactive elements designed particularly with children and young people in mind. Traditional techniques and methods were respected, rather than merely reproducing the outline of the buildings.

The background to this miniature is pastoral farming, which spread alongside settlement under Wallachian law. In what is now Slovakia, that process extended from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century, bringing mountain areas into agricultural use. The seasonal grazing of hardy, long-haired sheep usually lasted from April to October.

Work at a shepherd's camp was closely connected with milk production and the making of ripened sheep's cheese. The museum reconstruction belongs to a wider account of Podpoľanie's Wallachian culture, covering animal husbandry, milk processing and pastoral vessels. The figures distinguish the people and animals involved: the head shepherd, fellow shepherds and the flock in their care.