Bardejov is a sleepy small town not far from the border with Poland, we visited the WHS in August 2014. The inscription is based on the almost completely preserved medieval town plan. And indeed the rectangular market square is quite lovely, surrounded by well-preserved town houses, a small town hall in the centre and the parish church of St Egidius at the front side. It does not take much time to properly visit the site: a stroll around the market square, a visit to the church, and a walk along the preserved city wall on the east side of the town. The best part of our visit was the climb to the church tower. From up there you have a wonderful view and you can see the medieval layout of the city. I hardly remember the interior, after all the wooden churches we were a bit tired of visiting churches. Bardejov is a pretty town, but there are similar sites on the WH list that I liked more: Levoèa which we visited the next day, and especially Telc in the Czech Republic.

In the evening the city fell into a deep sleep, we had the market square almost to ourselves, the tables in the few cafés and pubs were almost empty. Finally, we found a restaurant for dinner in one of the back streets.

Next morning we went to the Jewish suburb, it is just a few hundred metres from the town centre. The complex is small, it consists of the former ritual baths, the synagogue and an assembly hall, next to it a Holocaust Memorial (not within the core zone). The nomination file describes ideas for a comprehensive refurbishment of the area and the establishment of multiple cultural uses, but nothing has been realized so far. The mikvah has been renovated, but it houses a hardware store. The other buildings are in bad repair (photo). The photo shows the outer wall of the assembly hall and the synagogue in the background. Construction materials and equipment are stored in the yard, but that seems to belong to the hardware store and not to ongoing renovation works. A look through the window of the synagogue gave us a glimpse of the vaulted ceiling and remains of wall paintings. The complex could be a significant component of the WHS, but the current state is a pity. It would be interesting to read in future reviews how they proceed with the area.