Well Below The Church
The geological composition of the nearest neighbourhood of Kostoľany pod Tribečom is favourable for the development of karst. Until know we have not discovered any cavities, though the local name Jaskyňa (cave) is pointing to such. Characteristic karst forms, as limestone pavement are present to both sides of the Drevenice Stream. An exceptional limestone feature is underground water in the grikes flowing to the surface at two places. According to the cadastral map from 1892, there were three springs in the municipality at the end of the 19th century.
From the centre of Kostoľany pod Tribečom (station No. 1) we come to the yellow marking (8135), cross the bridge over the Drevenica Stream and come to a road between the gardens leading to the spring with a value marker (yellow semicircle in a white rectangle). Time: 2 min. in both directions, length: 150 m, easy.
One of them is situated at the start of concrete steps to St George’s Street at the former hollow way to Ladice and was transformed into a well.
It has been called an artesian well according to the French province of Artois, where probably the first artesian well in Europe was drilled by Carthusian monks in 1126. We are not aware of the geological composition of the well’s bed. Possibly, there are loam and sandy-rubble layers of the upper Triassic beneath the Holocene stream sediments. These are especially suitable for the development of artesian aquifers both through rain and underground water from the surrounding rock bed, which penetrates through layers permeable by water and the grikes. Spontaneous flowing on the surfaces is caused by pressure of the impervious strata, which was drilled by the well. If the pressure ceases, it will become necessary to pump the water like with a classical well.
The well below the church is used by inhabitants as a source of drinkable water. This was of high quality and did not freeze in the winter. Today the spring has become a touristic attraction. Another similar spring is located in the northern part of the municipality, in front of house no. 96.
