Levoča

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Levoča
Town
St. James Church and Levoča old town hall
Country	Slovakia
Region	Prešov
District	Levoča
Elevation	570 m (1,870 ft)
Coordinates	49°01′31″N 20°35′17″E / 49.02528°N 20.58806°E / 49.02528; 20.58806
Area	64.042 km2 (25 sq mi)
Population	14,731 (2006-12-31)
Density	230 /km2 (596 /sq mi)
First mentioned	1249
Mayor	Miroslav Vilkovský
Timezone	CET (UTC+1)
- summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	054 01
Phone prefix	421-53
Car plate	LE
Location in Slovakia
Location in the Prešov Region
Wikimedia Commons: Levoča
Statistics: MOŠ/MIS
Website: http://www.levoca.sk

Levoča ( pronunciation (help·info); Hungarian: Lőcse, German: Leutschau, Polish: Lewocza) is a town in the Spiš region of eastern Slovakia with a population of 14,600. The town has a historic center with a well preserved town wall, a Renaissance church with the highest wooden altar in Europe, carved by Master Paul of Levoča, and many other Renaissance buildings.

On 28 June 2009, Levoča was added by UNESCO to its World Heritage List.^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 3 Historical Features 4 Demographics 5 Town and nearby settlements 6 International relations 6.1 Twin towns — Sister cities 7 See also 8 References 9 External links 10 Images

[edit] History

Levoča is located in the historical region of Spiš (formerly Szepes), which was inhabited as early as the Stone Age. In the 11th century, this region was conquered and, subsequently, became part of the Kingdom of Hungary and remained such until 1918. After the Mongol invasions of 1241/1242, the area was also settled by Germans. The oldest written reference to the city of Levoča dates back to 1249. In 1317, Levoča (at that time generally known by the German name of Leutschau) received the status of a royal town.

Below is a chronology of the names of Levoča^[2][3]:
1249 Leucha
1268 Lyucha
1271 Lewcha
1277 Lyucha
1284 Leuche, Lyuche, Leiuche
1408 Lewscen
1479 Lewcsouia
1497 Leutschaw
1773 Lewucža
1786 Lewoče, Lőcse (Hungarian), Leutschau (German), Leuchovia (Latin), Leutschovia, Leutsaria
1808 Leutsovia, Lőcse, Leutschau, Lewoča
1863 - 1913 Lőcse
1920 Levoča

In the 15th century the town, located on an intersection of trade routes between Poland and Hungary, became a rich center of commerce. It exported iron, copper, furs, leather, corn, and wine. The town kept this status until the end of 16th century, in spite of two damaging fires the first in 1550 destroyed nearly all of the Gothic architecture and another in 1599. In this period of prosperity several churches were built and the town had a school, library, pharmacy, and physicians. There was a printing press as early as 1624. Levoča was a center of the Protestant Reformation in Slovakia. The town started to decline during the anti-Habsburg uprisings in the 17th century.

In a lurid sequence of events in 1700, the mayor of the town was accidentally wounded by a local nobleman during a hunt, generating a series of revenge attacks, finally resulting in the murder of the mayor, Karol Kramler, a Saxon magistrate. The mayor's arm was then cut off, embalmed, and preserved in the town hall as a call to further revenge. This became the subject of a Hungarian novel about the town, The Black City, by the writer Kálmán Mikszáth.^[4]

The economic importance of the town was further diminished in 1871 when a new important railway line was built just 8 km to the south, bypassing Levoča and going through the nearby town of Igló, (today known by its traditional Slovak name, Spišská Nová Ves). Later, only a spur was built from Spišská Nová Ves to Levoča.

After the Treaty of Trianon and the dismantling of the Kingdom of Hungary, the city became part of the newly formed Czechoslovakia and its traditional Slovak name of Levoča was formally adopted. Later, during World War II, under the auspices of the First Slovak Republic, 981 local Jews were deported from the town to concentration camps.

On July 3, 1995 Levoča was visited by Pope John Paul II. He celebrated a mass for 650,000 celebrants at the traditional pilgrim site of Mariánska hora just above the town.

[edit] Geography

Levoča lies at an altitude of 570 metres (1,870 ft) above sea level and covers an area of 64.042 square kilometres (24.7 sq mi).^[5] It is located in the northern part of the Hornád Basin at the foothills of the Levoča Hills, at the stream Levočský potok, a tributary of Hornád. Poprad is 25 kilometres (16 mi) away to the west, Prešov 50 kilometres (31 mi) to the east, Košice 90 kilometres (56 mi) to the southeast and Bratislava 370 kilometres (230 mi) to the southwest.

[edit] Historical Features

The old town is picturesquely sited and still surrounded by most of its ancient walls. In associating the town with Spiš Castle and Zehra in June 2009 as the renamed World Heritage Site of "Levoča, Spišský Hrad, and the Associated Cultural Monuments", UNESCO cites the town's historic center, its fortifications, and the works of Master Paul of Levoča preserved in the town.

The main entrance to the old town is via the monumental Košice Gate (15th century) behind which is located the ornate baroque Church of the Holy Spirit and the New Minorite Monastery (c. 1750).

The town square (Námestie Majstra Pavla - Master Paul’s Square) boasts three major monuments; the quaint Old Town Hall (15th-17th century) which now contains a museum, the domed Evangelical Lutheran Church (1837) and the 14th century Roman Catholic Church of St. James (in Slovak: Chrám svätý Jakuba, often mistakenly referred to in English as St. Jacob's). It houses a magnificently carved and painted wooden Gothic altar, the largest in Europe, (18.62 m. in height), created by Master Paul around 1520. The square is very well preserved (despite one or two modern incursions) and contains a number of striking buildings which were the townhouses of the local nobility in the late Middle Ages. Also notable in the square is the wrought iron "Cage of Shame", dating back to the 17th century, used for public punishment of miscreants. A plaque on one of the houses records the printing and publication in the town of the most famous work of Comenius, the Orbis Pictus. Other buildings on the square house a historical museum and a museum dedicated to the work of Master Paul.

Behind the square on Kláštorská Street are the 14th century church and remains of the old monastery of the Minorites, now incorporated into a Church grammar school. Nearby is the town's Polish Gate, a Gothic construction of the 15th century.

From the 16th century to the end of 1922, Levoca was the administrative center of the province of Szepes (Spiš), officially called Scepusium before the late 19th century. Between 1806 - 1826, the Hungarian architect from Eger Antal Povolny built a grandiose administration building, the Large Provincial House, as the seat of the town's administration. He adjusted its Classicist style to Levoca's Renaissance character by emphasizing the building's horizontal lines. The House is considered the most beautiful Provincial House in the former Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it is reconstructed and it is a seat of the administration.

The State Regional Archives (Štátny oblastný archív) are in a tan stone building on the north side of the square at nám. Majstra Pavla 60.

[edit] Demographics

Levoča has a population of 14,677 (as of December 31, 2005). According to the 2001 census, out of 14,366 inhabitants 87.07% were Slovaks 11.20% Roma, 0.33% Czechs and 0.31% Rusyns.^[5] The religious make-up was 79.54% Roman Catholics, 9.01% people with no religious affiliation, 3.87% Greek Catholics and 1.61% Lutherans.^[5]

[edit] Town and nearby settlements

• Levoča (main town)
• Levočská Dolina (=English: Levoča Valley). About 4 km out of town, on the way to Závada.
• Levočské Lúky (=English: Levoča Fields). Settlement on the road to Spišska Nová Ves.
• Závada. Village in the hills above Levočská Dolina.

[edit] International relations

[edit] Twin towns — Sister cities

Levoča is twinned with:

• Stary Sącz in Poland
• Łańcut in Poland ^[6]
• Kalwaria Zebrzydowska in Poland
• Keszthely in Hungary
• Litomyšl in Czech Republic

[edit] See also

• Szepes (Spiš) county

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website of Levoča
• St. James's Church
• Article about Levoča at Spectacular Slovakia
• Levoča International Music Festival ('Indian Summer in Levoča')
• The Large Provincial House (student work)

[edit] Images

Levoča Coat of Arms	Levoča from Mariánska hora	Levoča - Town hall from above	Levoča main square
The Large Provincial House	Levoča main square	Sculptures from Master Paul's altar in St. James's Church	The Košice Gate
Doorway of the New Minorite Cloisters

v • d • e Municipalities of Levoča District Levoča · Spišské Podhradie Baldovce · Beharovce · Bijacovce · Brutovce · Buglovce · Dlhé Stráže · Doľany · Domaňovce · Dravce · Dúbrava · Granč-Petrovce · Harakovce · Jablonov · Klčov · Korytné · Kurimany · Lúčka · Nemešany · Nižné Repaše · Oľšavica · Ordzovany · Pavľany · Poľanovce · Pongrácovce · Spišský Hrhov · Spišský Štvrtok · Studenec · Torysky · Uloža · Vyšné Repaše · Vyšný Slavkov

v • d • e World Heritage Sites in Slovakia Cultural Historic Town of Banská Štiavnica and Technical Monuments in its Vicinity Levoča, Spiš Castle and associated cultural monuments (Levoča • Spiš Castle • Spišská Kapitula • Žehra • Spišské Podhradie) Vlkolínec Bardejov Town Monument Reserve Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountain Area (Hervartov • Tvrdošín • Kežmarok • Leštiny • Hronsek • Bodružal • Ladomírová • Ruská Bystrá) Natural Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst1 (Domica / Gombasecká / Jasovská / Ochtinská / Dobšinská) Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians2 (Havešova / Stužica / Rožok / Kyjovský prales) 1 with Hungary.  2 with Ukraine.