Smižany (, ) is a large

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' ...

in the

Spišská Nová Ves District Spišská Nová Ves District () is a district in the Košice Region of eastern Slovakia. The district in its present borders was established in 1996. Administrative, economic and cultural center is its seat Spišská Nová Ves. The district bord ...

in the

Košice Region The Košice Region (, ; ; ) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. The region was first established in 1923 and its present borders were established in 1996. It consists of 11 districts ( okresy) and 440 municipalities, 17 of which ...

of central-eastern

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 ...

. With a population of over 8,500 people as of 2021, Smižany is the largest village in Slovakia (a village being defined as a municipality that does not have town status). Smižany is situated directly adjacent to the town of

Spišská Nová Ves Spišská Nová Ves (; ; ) is a town in the Košice Region of Slovakia. The town is located southeast of the High Tatras in the Spiš region, and lies on both banks of the Hornád River. It is the biggest town of the Spišská Nová Ves Distric ...

and the two municipalities form a contiguous urban area, one of the main population centers in

Eastern Slovakia Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

History

Excavations in Čingov, just south of the village, have found traces of

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

settlement. The village was settled by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

settlers in 1242. There is a Romanesque church of the 13th century.

Geography

The

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 485 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 45.704 km². In 2011 had 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 8698 inhabitants and is the largest municipality without a town status in Slovakia.

Cultural attractions

* Čingov castle, an archaeological site that encompasses a set of Slavic forts from the 9th century. Monuments found in the castle confirm the settlement was founded during the Stone Age. The name The castle was composed of an acropolis on the cliff and a smaller fort on the western and northeastern parts. During the examination of the main area under the castle, the northern rampart and 90 m of the western rampart were almost completely exposed. Archaeological excavations continue to be performed at this location.

Twin towns — sister cities

Smižany is twinned with: *

Borsodnádasd Borsodnádasd is a small industrial town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary; 80 kilometers from the county capital Miskolc, and from the city of Ózd. History Borsodnádasd was first mentioned in documents in 1210, as ''Náda ...

, Hungary * Kamienica, Poland *

Komorniki Komorniki is a village in Poland, located in Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poznań County, Gmina Komorniki (Poznań metropolitan area), with approximately 5,500 inhabitants. The gmina (municipality) of Komorniki, including the village of Komorniki ...

, Poland

References

External links

Municipal website

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