Levice Explained

Levice
Settlement Type:Town
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:Levice District
Pushpin Map:Slovakia Nitra Region#Slovakia
Pushpin Relief:1
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Nitra Region##Location in Slovakia
Coordinates:48.2164°N 18.6081°W
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Name:RNDr. Ján Krtík
Established Title:First mentioned
Established Date:1156
Area Footnotes:[1]
Area Total Km2:61.00
Elevation Footnotes:[2]
Elevation M:165
Population Footnotes:[3]
Population Total:31081
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone1:CET
Utc Offset1:+1
Timezone1 Dst:CEST
Utc Offset1 Dst:+2
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Postal Code:934 01
Area Code:+421 36
Blank Name:Car plate
Blank Info:LV
Area Note:

Levice (in Slovak pronounced as /ˈleʋitse/; Hungarian: Léva, Hungarian pronunciation: NaNvNaNv; German: Lewenz) is a town in western Slovakia. The town lies on the left bank of the lower Hron river. The Old Slavic name of the town was Leva, which means "the Left One".

The town is located in the north-eastern corner of the Danubian Lowland (Podunajská nížina), 110km (70miles) east of Bratislava, 40km (30miles) south-east of Nitra, 32km (20miles) south-west of Banská Štiavnica, 55km (34miles) south-west of Zvolen and 25km (16miles) from the border with Hungary.

It is the capital of the Levice District, which is the largest district in Slovakia at 1551km2. The town's heraldic animal is lion (in Slovak lev), and the town's colours are green and yellow.

History

Levice is first mentioned as Leua, one of the villages belonging to the parish of St. Martin's Church in Bratka (Hungarian: Baratka) in 1156. It was part of the comitatus Tekov (Bars).

First attacked by the Turks in 1544, the town was set on fire while the castle was left unharmed. Between 1581 and 1589, the settlement was the seat of the Captaincy of Lower Hungary. The town was captured by the Turks in 1663 but recaptured only a year later by the Imperial Army led by General de Souches in the Battle of Levice, which took place beneath the town's castle. During the anti-Habsburg revolution of 1709, the fort was blown up by kuruces.After the break-up of Austria-Hungary, the town became a part of Czechoslovakia (confirmed by the Treaty of Trianon in 1920). As part of the breakup of Czechoslovakia under the Munich Agreement in World War II, the town again belonged to Hungary from 1938 to 1945. At the end of the Second World War it was returned to the restored Czechoslovakia. In 1993 it became part of present-day Slovakia.

It was the hometown of Hungarian-American Eugene Fodor (1905–1991), the founder of Fodor's travel book company.

Demographics

Census 2021: 31,974 inhabitants (100%)

Ethnicity

Religious makeup

Roman Catholic (majority), Reformed Protestant (Calvinist), Moravian Brethren (the biggest congregation in Slovakia), Lutheran, Baptist, Old Catholic Church, Adventist of the 7th Day, Modrý kríž (Blue Cross), several Charismatic and Pentecostal communities, Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslim community (non-practising), Jewish community (non-practising), atheists

Economy

Production

Textiles, cosmetics, furniture, products from locally obtained Golden Onyx, machinery and construction components, cereals, meat, eggs, dairy products, soft drinks, malt, wine (Levická frankovka is a trademark for locally produced red-wine). One of Slovakia's two nuclear power plants is in Mochovce, 12km (07miles) north-west of Levice.

Education

There are 8 elementary schools (7 secular including 1 Hungarian, and 1 Roman Catholic school), Gymnazium Andreja Vrabla, a general High School, a Hungarian Calvinist High School (Lyceum), a Business Academy, a Pedagogical and Social Academy, a Secondary Technical School, a Secondary Agricultural School and various apprentice schools.

Main sights

Places of worship

Other sights

Functionalist architectures

Nearby places of interest

Notable people

Twin towns — sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Slovakia.

Levice is twinned with:[6]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hustota obyvateľstva - obce . Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic (www.statistics.sk) . www.statistics.sk . 2024-02-08.
  2. Web site: Základná charakteristika . sk . 2015-04-17 . www.statistics.sk . Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. 2022-03-31.
  3. Web site: Počet obyvateľov podľa pohlavia - obce (ročne) . Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic (www.statistics.sk) . www.statistics.sk . 2024-02-08.
  4. Web site: Databazeknih.cz . Juraj Cintula - životopis a ocenění . 2024-05-15 . www.databazeknih.cz.
  5. Web site: 1994 . Steinhardt Géza; Szekeres . Hungarian Theater Arts Lexicon . Magyar színházművészeti lexikon . hu.
  6. Web site: Partnerské mestá. Levice. sk. 2019-09-02.