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Welcome To
Slovakia! |
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| From the Tatras to the Danube spreads
this charming country, small spot on Earth in the center of Europe occupying an
area of only 49,030 square kilometers. |
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| Large mountains belong to the most
precious jewels of Slovakia. They are part of the Carpathians, extending in more
than a 1,400 km long line from Bratislava to Black see. In their mighty arch, it
is especially the High Tatras that attract attention, superb mountains 26
km long and 17 km wide in average are called "the smallest giant mountains of
the world" . Amidst their three hundred peaks, the highest on – 2655 m high
Gerlachovsky Stit, touches the clouds. Not far away from It towers the most
beautiful 2,494m high Slovak mountain Krivan, symbol of freedom and independence
of all the citizens of the Slovak Republic. I t was declared independent on
January 1, 1993. Its population is 5,3 million. |
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The first
people settle in the territory of present Slovakia in the Paleolithic Era. The
oldest evidence is a skull of a Neanderthal man found near
Poprad. The oldest
children's toy, dating back to the Bronze Age, was found in a child's grave near
Kosice. Nothing similar has been found in other parts of Europe. Here have been
unearthed the most numerous archaeological finds documenting the Otoman people's
culture about 1,600 B.C.E. | |
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The Celtic
coin discovery in Bratislava is the largest one in Central Europe. After the
Celts, shortly before the Christian era, the Romans penetrated as far north as
the Danube River building their military forts in Rusovce called limes
Romanus. The inscription marked on the Trencin Castle rock is a monumental
epigraph documenting the presence of the Roman legions of the emperors Marcus
Aurelius and Commodus in the town encampment called Laugaricio. It was
written to remind future generation of their victory over the Quads. Slovakia
has become a part of world literature: on the banks of the River Hron, Marcus
Aurelius wrote his excellent work Talks to Myself
(Meditations). The Slavs started to come to this part of Europe during the
4th and 5th centuries establishing small agricultural
settlements. But it was as late as the 15th century when they started
to call their homeland Slovakia. It was in those times when the word Slovak
appeared for the first time spelled as Zlowachko, found in the first
Hungarian chronicle. |
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| Academia
Istropolitana was the first university founded in 1465 in Bratislava, the present
capital of Slovak Republic with a population of 450,000. Trnava, located
not far away from Bratislava, is on the other hand the oldest Slovak town. It
was granted freedom and privileges of royal towns in 1238.
However, the first Slovak ruler – Prince Pribina- had his seat in
Nitra, its first record comes from the year 826. In 623 Frank merchant Samo
founded the first historically confirmed Slavonic state right in the territory
of the present Slovak Republic. It was later transformed into Greater Moravia,
but at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries, it
succumbed to the invasions of the Magyar
tribes. | | |
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| In Arpad Hungary, a new state founded
in the Carpathian basin in the 10th century, the Slavonic population
was exposed to new domination. During the 13th and 14th centuries, under the
reign of the Arpads and Anjous, trading and mining towns started to grow and
develop. |
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| The late-Gothic culture of the royal mining
centers, especially those of Banska Bystrica, Kremnica, Banska Stiavnica,
Lubietova and Nova Bana, ranked the territory of Slovakia with the richest
regions of those times. Speaking about wealth, the oldest mint in Europe is that
in Kremnica. It was founded in 1328 in the vicinity of the world-famous Kremnica
gold deposits. In 1627 Banska Stiavnica established the first mining university
in the world. | |
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| No wonder this
historical town together with the mountain village Vlkolinec near Ruzomberok and
the Spis Castle,(12th century, the largest castle in
Central Europe – 4,1 hectares), are on the UNESCO list of the world's cultural
heritage. Some fortified classical buildings in Slovakia are also connected with
European culture. |
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| The rich history
of the country lying under the Tatras is documented in numerous cultural and
historical sights. They include 10 folk architecture reservations, up to 90
museums, 20 galleries, 425 mansions, 98 castles and a chateaux. The oldest one
of them is Devin Castle, positioned at the confluence of the Morava and Danube
Rivers. | |
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| Slovakia has
also sacred historical sights. One of the most magnificent is the Church of
St. Elizabeth in Kosice built in late-Gothic style at the turn of the
14th century and 15th centuries. It is not only the most
significant Gothic building in Slovakia but also the eastern-most situated
structure of its kind in Europe.
Speleologists
discovered more then 3,800 caves; 12 of them are open to public. Dobsinska Ice
cave is the largest (and according to the specialist, also the most richly
decorated) ice cave in Europe. Inside, there are 145,000 cubic meters of ice. In
1896, it was equipped with electricity as the first one in the
world.
In Slovakia,
these natural jewels are protected in 370 nature reservations covering more than
one sixth of the state territory, In addition, Slovakia is under professional
environmental protection in another 16 protected areas and 5 national
parks. | |
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mountains surface of Slovakia has and impact on its climate; it is mild and
continental. Large woods and forests contribute to the country's beauty and
wealth. They cover 37 percent of its area ranking it 4th among the
most wooded countries in Europe. Spruce forests constitute on fourth of all
forests. The Danube is the largest river crossing Slovak territory with a length
of 22,5 km (forming Slovak-Austrian and Slovak-Hungarian boundaries in its
149-kilometer course.) |
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To learn more about
Slovakia, please visit the websites linked to below. |
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