The birthplace of the first man to codify the literary Slovak - Anton Bernolák -disappeared under the level of the Oravská priehrada dam. A church was the only building to remain of the village. It stands on the Slanický ostrov island. A memorial was built there to commemorate its famous native.

In 1953 five villages of the Orava region disappeard under the water level of the Oravská priehrada dam. Among them was the village of Slanica where in 1762 Anton Bernolák was born. He was the first to codify the literary Slovak and the whole generation of the representatives of the national revival movement called themselves bernolákovci (the Bernoláks) after him.

From the flooded Slanica only the church, originally standing on a hill, remained. Before the dam was filled, the memorial of Anton Bernolák had been replaced next to the church. In 1938 the sculptor M. Machala made a large scale statue of this famous native of Slanica.

Both the church and the memorial stand on the Slanický ostrov island in the middle of the Oravská priehrada dam. It is sometimes called the island of arts because it has become an original natural gallery of folk plastic art of the Orava region with a collection of stone sculptures from the Orava region. In summer the Slanický ostrov island is accessible by trip boats.

Source: Vydavateľstvo DAJAMA