page_title: Kriváň (peak)
section_title: Before 1800
hierarchical_section_title: Kriváň (peak) / History / Ascents / Before 1800
caption_attribution_description: English: Panoramic photo of Tatra Mountains, view from Kriváň, Slovakia.
context_page_description: Kriváň is a mountain in the High Tatras, Slovakia, that dominates the upper part of the former Liptov County. Multiple surveys among nature lovers have ranked it as the country's most beautiful peak. Readily accessible along maintained marked trails and with the exceptional vistas afforded from its summit, it is the hikers' favorite mountain in the western part of the High Tatras. Kriváň has also been a major symbol in Slovak ethnic and national activism for the past two centuries. It has been referenced in works of art from 19th-century literature, through paintings, film documentaries, to a Polish rock track. A country-wide vote in 2005 selected it to be one of the images on Slovakia's euro coins.
context_section_description: A travel book  Ungarisher oder Dacianisher Simplicissimus written by Daniel Georg Speer in 1693 mentions a current legend (may have more ancient roots) explaining how Krivan got its shape. Lucifer (the carrier of light) flew over Tatras carrying some people to hell. His foot tripped on the tip of Krivan which got bent, and losing his balance he dropped the sinners who populated since the county of Liptov. 
  Records of explorations by miners in the Kriváň massif date to the first half of the 15th century. Their presence increased during the gold rush of the 16th century. Although they may not have been the first to do so, it is probable that some of the miners reached the top of Kriváň; remnants of their shacks have survived below Priehyba Ridge at the elevation of about 2,000 m (6,560 ft.) through the present, and the highest, long abandoned, Terézia Shaft is merely about 60 m (200 ft.) below the summit. The commercial exploitation of the meager deposits discovered at Kriváň proved to be barely viable. It was abandoned in the 18th century.
  The Scottish doctor Townson who ascended it in 1793 provided some evidence that Kriváň was already a recognized occasional destination for tourists in the second half of the 18th century. His guide from Važec had been to the top several times before and Townson saw him collect small coins from under a summit stone where hikers would leave them for luck. The first recorded ascent of Kriváň was by the Lutheran Pastor Andreas Jonas Czirbes from Spišská Nová Ves on 4 August 1773.
caption: Tatra Mountains Panorama from the peak of Kriváň
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