Rožňava ( hu, Rozsnyó, german: Rosenau,
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
: ''Rosnavia'') is a town in
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...
, approximately by road from
Košice
Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of a ...
in the
Košice Region
The Košice Region ( sk, Košický kraj, , hu, Kassai kerület; uk, Кошицький край) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. The region was first established in 1923 and its present borders were established in 1996. It ...
, and has a population of 19,182.
The town is an economic and tourist centre of the
Gemer. Rožňava is now a popular tourist attraction with a beautiful historic town centre. The town is an episcopal seat. It has above all food, textile and remnants of mining industries.
History
Archaeological finds show that the region was densely settled by miners as early as around 1200. The first written mention stems from 1291, the royal free town status from 1410. The Roman Catholic
diocese of Rozsnyó was founded in 1776.
In the Middle Ages, Rozsnyó was a prosperous mining town for
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
,
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
, and
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...
. Mining activities stagnated from the 16th century (when territories to the south of the town were conquered by
Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
). Mining - this time mainly of iron ore - was renewed around 1800 and was present in the town throughout the 20th century. It was ruled by
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
as part of
Filek sanjak (Its centre was
Rimaszombat) during periods of 1554-1593 and 1596-1686. It was known as "Rojna" during Ottoman period.
The name of the town probably derives from the German word for rose (''Rose, in the German name of the town "Rosenau"'').
Until 1920 it was part of
Gömör és Kishont County of the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephe ...
, and again from 1938 to 1945.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, Rožňava was captured on 23 January 1945 by troops of the
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...
4th Army, acting as a part of the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
2nd Ukrainian Front
The 2nd Ukrainian Front (2-й Украинский фронт), was a front of the Red Army during the Second World War.
History
On October 20, 1943 the Steppe Front was renamed the 2nd Ukrainian Front.
During the Second Jassy–Kishinev ...
.
On 13 September 2003, Rožňava was visited by Pope
John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
.
Noteworthy buildings
* an important
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...
Museum
* a completely preserved medieval central town square with burgher houses
* the
Cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
(Gothic, late 13th century) with many precious historic art objects, especially a Renaissance painting of Mestercia showing realistic mining motifs, as well as the body of St. Neith, a
catacombs Saint
Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire.
Etymology and history
The first place to be referre ...
.
* the Town Tower (Renaissance, 1654) in the middle of the central town square
* the Jesuit church (Baroque, 1687)
* the Bishop's residence (Baroque-Classical, arose 1778 from older houses) with a
plague column
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
in front of the building
* a town hall (Classical, 1711)
* an Evangelic Lutheran church (Classical, 1786)
* a Reformed church (neo-Gothic, 1905)
Demographics
According to the 2001
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
, the town had 19,261 inhabitants. 69.27% of inhabitants were
Slovaks
The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak.
In Slovakia, 4.4 ...
, 26.80%
Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Ural ...
, 1.59%
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
* Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
and 0.69%
Czechs
The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...
.
The religious make-up was 41.08%
Roman Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, 32.34% people with no religious affiliation, 12.03%
Lutherans
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
and 1.33%
Greek Catholics The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually.
The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...
.
Notable citizens
*
Haviva Reik
Haviva Reik (alternately Haviva Reick, Havivah Reich, Chaviva Reiková or Chaviva Reich) (22 June 1914 – 20 November 1944) was one of 32 or 33 parachutists sent by the Jewish Agency and Britain's MI9 on military missions in Nazi-occupied Euro ...
, Jewish resistance fighter
*
Pavel Jozef Šafárik
Pavel Jozef Šafárik ( sk, Pavol Jozef Šafárik; 13 May 1795 – 26 June 1861) was an ethnic Slovak philologist, poet, literary historian, historian and ethnographer in the Kingdom of Hungary. He was one of the first scientific Slavists.
Fam ...
, poet and philologist.
*
Vladimir Oravsky
Vladimir Oravsky (born 22 January 1947 in Rožňava, Czechoslovakia) is a Swedish author and film director.
Before Oravsky decided to be a full-time writer, he made a living in Czechoslovakia as machine engineer and conveyor belt constructor. ...
, writer, director
*
Adam Szentpétery
Szentpétery Ádám (; born 24 February 1956) is a Hungarian artist in Slovakia and the Department Head/Professor of the Studio of Contemporary Image at the Faculty of Arts at the Technical University of Košice, Slovakia. He is known primarily ...
, artist.
*
Dana Velďáková
Dana Velďáková (born 3 June 1981 in Rožňava, Czechoslovakia) is a former Slovak athlete specialising in the triple jump. A very regular jumper, qualifying for the final at almost every major competition, her biggest senior successes are t ...
, triple jumper
*
Jana Velďáková
Jana Velďáková (born 3 June 1981) is a former/ Slovak long jumper. She was born in Rožnava and has a twin sister named Dana, who is a triple jump
The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump ...
, long jumper
*
Henrieta Farkašová
Henrieta Farkašová (born 3 May 1986) is a retired Slovak alpine skier, eleven-time Paralympic champion and seventeen-time world champion in the B3 (classification) category.
Biography
Farkašová's motto is: "Impossible is nothing".
Fark ...
, gold medal winner at the 2010 Winter Paralympics and at 2014 Sochi Paralympics
Parts of the town
* Nadabula
* Rožňavská Baňa (Rožňava Mine)
Twin towns — sister cities
Rožňava is
twinned
Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to:
* In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so;
* Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning
* Twinning inst ...
with:
*
Bačka Topola
Bačka Topola ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка Топола, ; hu, Topolya, ) is a town and municipality located in the North Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The municipality is composed of 23 local communities and has a po ...
, Serbia
*
Český Těšín
Český Těšín (; pl, Czeski Cieszyn ; german: Tschechisch-Teschen) is a town in the Karviná District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 24,000 inhabitants.
Český Těšín lies on the west bank of the Olza ...
, Czech Republic
*
Cieszyn
Cieszyn ( , ; cs, Těšín ; german: Teschen; la, Tessin; szl, Ćeszyn) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabita ...
, Poland
*
Lipótváros (Budapest), Hungary
*
Szerencs
Szerencs is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary. It lies away from Miskolc, and away from Budapest. It has about 9,100 inhabitants.
History
Szerencs grew into a town where the Great Plain and the Zemplén mountains meet. ...
, Hungary
References
;Notes
External links
*
*
Rožňava(with photo of the main square)
Medial information site about life in Rožňava(in Slovak)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roznava
Cities and towns in Slovakia
Geography of Košice Region
Hungarian communities in Slovakia