Margecany Tunnel
The story of the railway history of this region is documented by a tunnel located approximately 3 km from the village of Margecany near the Ružín water reservoir. This originally a railway tunnel with a length of 431 m was built as part of the construction of the Košice-Bohumín monorail in 1867–1872, as part of the most important railway line in the north of Historic Hungary.
The old Margecany Tunnel is best accessible from the village along the asphalt road that runs alongside the railway line and around the water reservoir. The route is very popular among cyclists. We recommend that after passing through the tunnel, you turn immediately to the right onto the forest road that leads to the recreational area of Kozinec.
The most important member of the Ghillány family, Imrich Ghillány (1860 - 1922), could probably tell the most about the railway constructions of the close of the 19th century. He was a member of the metropolitan council, later held the position of Minister of Agriculture of Hungary or member of the Hungarian Parliament, in which he promoted the construction of a line from Prešov to Margecany or Krompachy. The tunnel was damaged in January 1945 by the retreating German troops. The railway in Margecany in the section of Kysak - Spišská Nová Ves was put into operation on 12 March 1872. The original name of the tunnel at the time of construction was Phönix Tunnel. After the opening of the parallel Družba Railway on 5 November 1955, the Margecany Tunnel was removed from the management of the Chechoslovak Railways (ČSD), and the municipality of Margecany became its owner and user. In the 1960s, it was supposed to serve on the old line, which was used as a siding during the construction of the Ružín I waterworks (1964-1969). Later, the tunnel was dismantled, and after the completion of the water reservoir, an asphalt road for cars was built in the tunnel.In the north-eastern part of the tunnel (closer to the Margecany portal), there are 3 security niches in the wall. Almost half of the entire length of the tunnel tube has no lining, and the walls are made only of the processed rocks themselves. The walled parts of the tunnel tube and the portals have the typical shape of a parabolic vault for tunnels. The material of the blocks of masonry predominantly consists of travertine, but there are also blocks of various rocks, e.g. sandstone. At the entrance portal from the village of Margecany, there is an information board that informs about the history and other technical parameters.
In 2018, as part of the "Margecany Tunnel, Open Gallery" project, lighting was installed in the tunnel along its entire length. On 22 March 1985, under the name of Railway Tunnel, it was entered into the Central List of the Monument Fund of the Slovak Republic as a technical monument.
The Ružín Viaduct railway bridge and the shortest double-track tunnel in Slovakia – the Ružín Tunnel with a length of 131 metres are significant technical monuments on the Družba Railway.
If you decide to continue straight along the asphalt road, you will come to the dam wall of the Ružín water reservoir, to the Malá Lodina locality. The entire route is approximately 15 km long.
