Dolná Lehota

History of Orava:  Lehota Dolná

Translated excerpt with edits from book: HISTORICKÝ MIESTOPIC ORAVY - Publishing House of Slovak Academy of Science - Published 1955

Lehota Dolná is a Slovak village in the political district of Dolný Kubín, with a Central Slovak dialect. In 1974 it was merged with Oravský Podzámok for joint administrative purposes.

The village developed from the former economic courtyards of the Orava castle estate, established near the castle on land cultivated directly under the direction of the castle, not on the basis of the agricultural ratio. Here, at the same time, there were deputy fields of castle officials and servants. The inhabitants of these yards served the castle and the castle lords as court servants, guards, stewards, overseers, messengers, security, bailiffs and tax collectors, etc., for their daily needs, therefore they were freed from heavy work, carting, cutting wood, construction work, field cultivation and from various taxes; they had relief, a period of time from urban burdens, that's why their settlement was called Lehota (translates to “time limit”).

Before the split of the settlement into the upper and lower parts, there was only Lehota, a collection of villages extending from Dubova to the castle; In 1420, "villa Nowa Lehotha" is mentioned as an accessory of the Orava castle. D. Szontagh (1867), based on documents unknown to us, wrote that before 1490 there was the settlement of Marková, by which he means Beňova Lehota. In Beňová Lehota however, there is no record of the name Marková; on the other hand, in Dolná Lehota there is a stream; part of the village, which can be considered the core of today's village, called Marková; below the village there is a fallen rock in the Orava river, which is called Markova Skala (“Markova Rock”); thus, before in 1490, Marková is in Lehota near the castle, which over time was divided into Horná Lehota (Horná means “upper") and (downstream of the Orava river) Dolná Lehota (Dolná means “lower”).