Podkonice () is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Banská Bystrica District Banská Bystrica District () is a district in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. Until 1918, the area belonged to the county of Zvolen within the Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that ...

in the

Banská Bystrica Region The Banská Bystrica Region (, ; , ) is one of the eight regions of Slovakia. It is the largest of the eight regions by area, and has a lower population density than any other region. The Banská Bystrica Region was established in 1923; its bord ...

of central

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Etymology

Slovak ''konica'' (archaic) - a

stable A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

or a shelter for shoeing horses. Podkonica - a nearby location. ''Koknicze'' 1340, ''Podkonicze'' 1441, ''Potkonycz'' 1528, ''Potkonicz'' 1773, ''Podkonice'' 1920.

History

In historical records the village was first mentioned in the charter of King Karol Robert in the year 1340, where it is mentioned as "possessio Connyce". The village was possibly created on, or closeby the remains of an older settlement before 1250 as a vassal village while

Ľupča Castle The Ľupča castle towers above the village Slovenská Ľupča. It's the highest located castle building in the Hron area (''Pohronie''). The castle is built on the north side of a relatively narrow fold of the Hron which is closed by the slopes ...

was being built. In the beginning,

did not only have a defensive function, but also served as accommodation for the king and his party during hunting trips in the large parts of the Zvolenské forest (encroaching on the farmstead areas of the present-day villages of

Slovenská Ľupča Slovenská Ľupča is the largest village in the Banská Bystrica District of central Slovakia. Geography The altitude of Slovenská Ľupča ranges from 370 to 699 metres, with the centre of the village lying at 378 metres. The municipality cove ...

, Podkonice, Priechod and

Moštenica Moštenica () is a village and municipality in Banská Bystrica District in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. History In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1340. One of Jakob Frugger's smelting plants was locate ...

). The inhabitants of Konice at the time were forced to move for some unknown reason. It is assumed that the relocation of the village from where it once stood, to today's area took place at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, specifically in the first quarter to the first third of the 14th century at the latest. The old name of the village was still used for some time, or was used alongside the new name currently used today, Podkonice, signifying its close by proximity to the new area.

Geography

The municipality lies at an

altitude Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum (geodesy), datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometr ...

of 529 metres and covers an

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

of 28.476 km². It has a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of about 877 people. Podkonice is part of a group of mountainous type villages in the

Banská Bystrica region The Banská Bystrica Region (, ; , ) is one of the eight regions of Slovakia. It is the largest of the eight regions by area, and has a lower population density than any other region. The Banská Bystrica Region was established in 1923; its bord ...

. The village is located at the foot of the southern slopes of the Low Tatras at an altitude of 520 meters above sea level. It belongs to the Banská Bystrica District and is also part of the Central Slovak mountain region of folk culture. In March 2000, the village became a member of the "Microregion pod Panský dielom". The bordering municipalities of

Baláže Baláže (; ) is a village and municipality in the Banská Bystrica District in the Banská Bystrica Region of Slovakia. History In history, historical records, the village was first mentioned in 1529 (1529 ''Huttae Lyptyczae'', 1531 ''Lyptzcicz' ...

Kynceľová Kynceľová () is a village and municipality in Banská Bystrica District in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. History In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1435. Geography The municipality lies at an altitude o ...

, Nemce, Podkonice, Priechod, Selce,

, and

Špania Dolina Špania Dolina is a village and municipality in central Slovakia, near the city of Banská Bystrica. Although its permanent population does not exceed 200 people, it is a picturesque historic village situated 728 m above sea level and is surrounded ...

are the other members of the

microregion Microregion is a designation for territorial entities. Austria Brazil Klaus Roth and Ulf Brunnbauer A microregion is a geographic region of a size between that of a community and that of a district.p. 18, "What's in a Region? Southeast Europ ...

. The total area of this microregion is 110 km2, it lies in the altitude range of 360 - 1250 m above sea level, and its member villages are home to approximately 8250 inhabitants. The common goal of the microregion's municipalities is partnership and cooperation in the field of tourism, solving issues of employment, and civic amenities, solving environmental problems and preserving folk and local traditions. The-study-area-the-location-of-the-Pod-Panskym-dielom-microregion-within-the-territory

The-study-area-the-location-of-the-Pod-Panskym-dielom-microregion-within-the-territory

Sport

Soccer

FK Podkonice FK Podkonice is a Slovak football team, based in the village of Podkonice. The club was founded in 1959. Club colors are blue and white. FK Podkonice home stadium is Štadión na Brodku with a capacity of 800 spectators. History The modern ...

- football club currently competing in 3rd league - group west ( 3. Liga (Slovakia))

Notable Places

Slovak Ski Museum Slovak may refer to: * Something from, related to, or belonging to Slovakia (''Slovenská republika'') * Slovaks, a Western Slavic ethnic group * Slovak language, an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages * Slovak, Arkan ...

( Slovak:Slovenské lyžiarske múzeum) The Ski Museum documents the history of skiing over the past 130 years. It contains 650 exhibits of skis, ski poles and also 85 pieces of ski boots. There is also a photo gallery and text documentation from the history of Slovak skiing and important skiing events. Important trophies and cups from skiing events are also displayed here. Church of Saint Martin ( Slovak:Kostol sv. Martina) a single-nave church with a polygonal presbytery, classically oriented to the east, originally built in Podkonice sometime in the second half of the 14th century. Ski Resort - Pleše ( Slovak:Lyžiarske stredisko Pleše) located 2.5 km from Podkonice at an altitude of 800 to 987 m, on the southeastern side of the Low Tatras.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20110817033906/http://www.podkonice.sk/index1.htm Villages and municipalities in Banská Bystrica District {{BanskaBystrica-geo-stub