--- title: "The Tripoint on Trojačka: a boundary stone above Bumbálka" description: "A boundary stone of 1906 with the names Uhry, Morava and Karlovice stands on Trojačka above Bumbálka. Discover this tripoint of regions and its history." url: "https://zpusteven.cz/en/trojmezi" lang: "en" latitude: 49.3967772 longitude: 18.4033656 --- ![The clearing on the summit of Trojačka with two boundary markers - the white state border marker and the old stone of 1906](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/trojmezi/1280/IMG_3271.avif) A historic boundary stone • the hill Trojačka • 939 m a.s.l. # The Tripoint The border here has been rewritten twice since 1906 - the stone still stands. And today's border marker has gone up within arm's reach of it. - **Stone set up:** 1906 - **Names on the stone:** three - **The hill Trojačka:** 939 m a.s.l. - **Today a tripoint:** of three regions ## The past and present of a border within arm's reach On a wooded summit a short way above Bumbálka stand **two boundary markers** close together. The sandstone boundary stone of 1906 carries the names **Uhry, Morava and Karlovice** - and a few dozen centimetres from it stands the white marker of today's Czech-Slovak state border. The pair people come here for: the marker of today's state border and the boundary stone of 1906. Each marks a different age - and the same line. Why come here ### The making of a border in one place There are few places where you see **an old land boundary stone and a present-day border marker side by side**. A few dozen centimetres - and more than a hundred years - separate the newer border from the older one. What not to miss ### Walking round the stone Each of the three sides carries a different name: **Uhry** to the east (Makov), **Morava** to the north (Ostravice), **Karlovice** to the south (Velké Karlovice). When to come ### All year on the red route From Bumbálka it is **roughly a kilometre along the red ridge route**. In summer you walk in the shade of the wood; in winter a groomed cross-country ski trail runs past. Three sides of the stone ## One stone, three names The boundary stone has a **triangular cross-section**. Its three sides are a map: it stands where three cadastres meet, and each side points by name into “its” territory. The names, though, are from 1906 – walk round the stone and read who the neighbours were back then. ![A close view of the side of the boundary stone with the carved word UHRY](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/trojmezi/1280/IMG_3265.avif) The eastern side ### UHRY The side turned towards the cadastre of [Makov](https://zpusteven.cz/en/makov). Kysuce belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary - so the boundary on the ridge was not only a village boundary but the boundary between the lands of the Hungarian crown and Moravia. Slovakia lies in that direction today. - **What the name marked:** The Kingdom of Hungary - the Slovak side today ![A close view of the side of the boundary stone with the inscriptions MORAVA, Ostravice, H. H. and the year 1906](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/trojmezi/1280/IMG_3270.avif) The northern side ### MORAVA · Ostravice The front side, facing the cadastre of Ostravice as it then was. Below the name of the land is carved H. H. - Herrschaft Hochwald, the Hukvaldy estate of the archbishopric, which owned the woods here. The year 1906 and a registration number complete it. - **What the name marked:** Moravia - the Ostravice cadastre of the Hukvaldy estate ![A close view of the side of the boundary stone with the carved word KARLOVICE](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/trojmezi/1280/IMG_3283.avif) The southern side ### KARLOVICE The southern side points into the cadastre of Velké Karlovice. This Wallachian village in the upper Bečva basin reaches with its paseky as far as the ridge - and its cadastre touches those of Ostravice and Makov here to this day. - **What the name marked:** The cadastre of Velké Karlovice - Moravian Wallachia ## The story of the border at the Tripoint The border was here before the stone, and it has outlived every state that defined it. The stone of 1906 is its most legible witness. A border older than the stone ### A line along the ridge, drawn by water The land boundary between Moravia and Hungary did not run here by chance. It followed the main ridge - and with it the main European watershed. Rain that falls on the northern side of the summit runs off by the Ostravice and the Odra to the Baltic; water from the other sides runs by the [Kysuca](https://zpusteven.cz/en/pramen-kysuce#tok) and the [Bečva](https://zpusteven.cz/en/roznovska-becva) to the Danube and the Black Sea. The boundary between the lands was drawn by the ground itself from the beginning. What met on the ridge, though, were not states as we know them today, but **estates and cadastres**: the Ostravice woods of the Hukvaldy estate from the north, the paseky of Velké Karlovice from the south and Hungarian Makov from the east. It is exactly that meeting of three territories that the stone on the summit marks - which is why it has three sides. Three turns up here in the language as well: by one reading the hill is called **Trojačka** because three mountain ranges meet here - the Vsetínské vrchy, the Moravian-Silesian Beskids and the Javorníky Mountains. ![The old boundary stone on Trojačka seen obliquely from above - the triangular plan and the word UHRY are visible](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/trojmezi/1280/IMG_3275.avif) The triangular plan shows best from above: three sides, three cadastres, three names. The year 1906 ### A stonemason from Horní Bečva At the beginning of the 20th century the Hukvaldy estate had its boundaries newly surveyed and set with stone markers. What came to Trojačka then was a **triangular boundary stone of sandstone**: only 25 × 24 × 26 centimetres in section, standing about 80 centimetres above the ground - and yet it has outlasted the states whose border it marked. The lettering on the stone most likely has a particular author. The researcher Karel Jan Malina compared the shapes of the letters with a signature carved into the rock on [Čertův mlýn](https://zpusteven.cz/en/certuv-mlyn) - **“Bolf Josef, kameník, H. B. 1903”** – and concluded that the dressing and setting of the boundary stones here in 1903–1906 was probably the work of **Josef Bolf of Horní Bečva** (1868–1909), who trained in master Leide's quarry. - **the stone set up:** 1906 - **triangular section:** 25 × 24 × 26 cm - **height above the ground:** 80 cm #### The stonemason's signature The signature that identifies the authorship is carved by the spring below the summit of Čertův mlýn - fifteen kilometres from here along the ridges. [Open Čertův mlýn](https://zpusteven.cz/en/certuv-mlyn) The border changes ### The states were rewritten, the stone stands The stone had stood in place for only **twelve years** when the first state vanished from its sides. In 1918 the monarchy broke up and Hungary ceased to exist. The border did not vanish with it: what had been a boundary between two lands of the monarchy became the **Moravian-Slovak boundary** within a shared state. The border was rewritten a second time on **1 January 1993**, when Czechoslovakia divided. Overnight an internal boundary became the **border between two independent states** - and so a white border marker stands beside the old stone: S on the Slovak side, C on the Czech. A few dozen centimetres and almost ninety years separate the two markers. The three still holds today. At the summit **Makov, Velké Karlovice and Bílá** meet - and with them the Žilina, Zlín and Moravian-Silesian Regions. The tripoint has stayed; only its names have changed three times. ![A white border marker with the designation III/1 and the old boundary stone side by side on the summit of Trojačka](https://d.zpusteven.cz/place/trojmezi/1280/IMG_3267.avif) The marker of today's state border carries C on the Czech side and S on the Slovak. The old stone stands within reach. Timeline ## One line, five ages 1. for centuries ### A boundary along the ridge The land boundary between **Moravia and Hungary** follows the main ridge - and with it the main European watershed between the Baltic and the Black Sea. 2. 1903–1906 ### A new survey The Hukvaldy estate has the boundaries of its woods newly set with stone markers. Judging by the matching lettering, the dressing was **probably the work of the stonemason Josef Bolf of Horní Bečva**. 3. 1906 ### The stone on Trojačka The estate sets a **triangular boundary stone** on the summit with the names Uhry, Morava (Ostravice, H. H.) and Karlovice. 4. 1918 ### The end of Hungary Hungary ceases to exist and Czechoslovakia comes into being. From then on the same line is the **Moravian-Slovak boundary** within a shared state. 5. 1993 ### A state border once again With the division of Czechoslovakia the **border between the Slovak and Czech Republics** runs along the ridge. A white border marker with S and C joins the old stone. 6. today ### A tripoint of three regions At the summit the cadastres of Makov, Velké Karlovice and Bílá meet - and with them the **Žilina, Zlín and Moravian-Silesian Regions**. The red ridge route passes the stone. Visit ## Plan your walk to Trojačka ### Where exactly it is #### The summit of Trojačka, a kilometre from Bumbálka The hill Trojačka (**939 m a.s.l.**) lies right on the Czech-Slovak border between the Bumbálka saddle and the Makov settlement of Trojačka. Both markers stand on the clearing at the summit, which the red waymarked ridge route crosses. ##### Otevřít v mapách [Mapy.com](https://mapy.com/en/zakladni?x=18.4033656&y=49.3967772&z=17&source=coor&id=18.4033656,49.3967772) · [Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=49.3967772,18.4033656) ##### Other places nearby [The Partisan](https://zpusteven.cz/partisan-memorial-makov) · [The source of the Bečva](https://zpusteven.cz/en/pramen-becvy) · [Chapel on Kršlisko](https://zpusteven.cz/chapel-on-krslisko) · [Brest u Papají](https://zpusteven.cz/en/brest-u-papaji) · [Šorštýn](https://zpusteven.cz/en/sorstyn) · [The source of the Kysuca](https://zpusteven.cz/en/pramen-kysuce) · [Benešky](https://zpusteven.cz/en/benesky) · [The lookouts above the quarry](https://zpusteven.cz/viewpoints-above-the-quarry) Map of the area ### How to get here Most easily **from the Bumbálka saddle** along the red ridge route, part of the European path E3 - the route and its stops are set out below. A waymarked path to the summit also comes up from the valley from the Makov settlement of Trojačka. 1. 1 #### Bumbálka start · car park and bus Park at the border crossing in the Bumbálka saddle on the Makov - Horní Bečva road (navigation: [Google](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&destination=Bumb%C3%A1lka) · [Waze](https://waze.com/ul?q=Bumb%C3%A1lka&navigate=yes)); buses stop here from the Czech and the Slovak side alike. Follow the red waymarks south along the border. 2. #### The Tripoint on the summit of Trojačka destination · ~1 km · you are here After roughly a kilometre of gentle climbing alongside the white border markers you reach the summit plateau. A boundary stone of 1906 and the marker of today's state border stand side by side here - walk round the stone - each side carries a different name. 3. ↓ #### [Onward: south along the same red waymarks](https://zpusteven.cz/hiking/hrebenovka-bumbalka-stratenec) longer option The stone is not the end of the walk, only a point on it. The same red waymarks carry on from Trojačka along the border to the Makov Pass and on to [Kasárne](https://zpusteven.cz/en/osada-kasarne) and [Stratenec](https://zpusteven.cz/en/stratenec) (Ztracenec in Czech) - the whole [Javorníky ridge walk](https://zpusteven.cz/hiking/hrebenovka-bumbalka-stratenec) is about 15 km and you can pick any stretch of it. To the west, at Třeštík, the [Vsetínské vrchy ridge walk](https://zpusteven.cz/hiking/hrebenovka-solan-benesky-trestik) takes over, past [Benešky](https://zpusteven.cz/en/benesky) to Soláň. On the way from Bumbálka you walk right along the border - the white border markers along the path will bring you reliably to the destination. Bus services to Bumbálka change with the day and the season; you can check the Czech ones in [IDOS](https://idos.cz/vlakyautobusymhdvse/spojeni/), the Slovak ones in [CP.sk](https://cp.sk/vlakbusmhd/spojenie/). ### What to know before you go #### How long it takes From Bumbálka **fifteen to twenty minutes' walk** gently uphill. Even with a look at the stone and a walk round the summit it is an easy outing of under an hour. #### A historic monument The stone has stood here for over **a hundred and twenty years**. Do not move it, do not carve anything into it and do not test whether it holds - so that it lasts for the generations to come. #### Protected countryside The ridge divides the **Beskydy Protected Landscape Area** on the Czech side from the **Kysuce Protected Landscape Area** on the Slovak. Keep to the waymarked routes and the cleared border strip. #### A mountain ridge You are in the mountains at almost a thousand metres: **stout footwear** helps and the weather changes fast. In winter the path lies under snow and ice - and skiers use the groomed trail around Bumbálka. #### Nearest facilities Refreshments and toilets are down at **Bumbálka** and in Makov. Na závěr ## Doplňující info a test znalostí ### Rychlá rekapitulace **What is the Tripoint on Trojačka?** Two boundary markers on the summit of Trojačka (939 m a.s.l.): a sandstone boundary stone of 1906 with the names Uhry, Morava and Karlovice - and, a few dozen centimetres from it, the white marker of today's Czech-Slovak state border. **Why is the hill called Trojačka?** By one reading because three mountain ranges meet here - the Vsetínské vrchy, the Moravian-Silesian Beskids and the Javorníky Mountains. Today the summit is also a tripoint of three regions: Žilina, Zlín and Moravian-Silesian. **What do the inscriptions on the stone mean?** Each of the three sides pointed into a different cadastre: UHRY towards Makov, MORAVA with Ostravice and the year 1906 to the north (H. H. = Herrschaft Hochwald, the Hukvaldy estate), KARLOVICE to the south into Velké Karlovice. **How do I get to the Tripoint?** Most easily from the Bumbálka saddle on the Makov - Horní Bečva road along the red ridge route (E3) - roughly a kilometre of gentle climbing. A path also comes up from the Makov settlement of Trojačka, or along the longer ridge route from Kasárne. **Who carved the stone on Trojačka?** According to the researcher Karel Jan Malina, the dressing and setting of the boundary stones here in 1903–1906 was probably the work of the stonemason Josef Bolf of Horní Bečva - his signature is also carved by the spring on Čertův mlýn. --- Source: [The Tripoint on Trojačka: a boundary stone above Bumbálka](https://zpusteven.cz/en/trojmezi) - zPusteven.cz. When citing, please link to the page.