Orava

Orava (in German: Arwa, in Hungarian and Latin: Arva) is the name of a historic administrative county in northern Slovakia from a time when Slovakia was part of Hungary. Today only an informal designation of the corresponding territory. Situated along the Orava river (see below) between Zázrivá and the Tatrass.

Orava is also the name of a castle situated on a high rock (520m), which was constructed in the 13th century, considered to be one of the most interesting castles in Slovakia. The first black-and-white famous film (1922) about Dracula (until recently thought to be made in Romania) shows this castle and its surroundings as the castle of Nosferatu.

Orava is also the name of a water reservoir in northernmost Slovakia, which is the largest lake in Slovakia (35,2 km2). It has been constructed between 1941 and 1953 as a dam built on the former 2 sources of the Orava river. Several former villages had to be inundated for this purpose.

Orava is also the name of 60.3 km long river in north-western Slovakia passing through a pictoresque country. Its source is nowadays the Orava water reservoir.