Banská Belá (german: Dilln; hu, Bélabánya) is a village and

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

Banská Štiavnica District Banská Štiavnica District (''okres Banská Štiavnica'') is a district in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. Until 1920, most of the present-day district belonged to the county of Kingdom of Hungary of Hont, apart from Močiar a ...

, in the

Banská Bystrica Region The Banská Bystrica Region ( sk, Banskobystrický kraj, ; hu, Besztercebányai kerület, ) is one of the eight regions of Slovakia. It is the largest region by area, and has a lower population density than any other region. The Banská Bystric ...

of central

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 s ...

. It has a population of 1,234.

Names and etymology

The settlements got its name after the creek ''Biela'' (1228 ''torrens Bela'', now Starý potok), in Slovak "white".Martin Štefánik - Ján Lukačka et al. 2010, Lexikón stredovekých miest na Slovensku, Historický ústav SAV, Bratislava, p. 20, . http://forumhistoriae.sk/-/lexikon-stredovekych-miest-na-slovensku The village founded on the creek was named ''Bana'' (a mine), later ''Biela Bana'' to distinguish between Banská Belá and

Banská Štiavnica Banská Štiavnica (; german: Schemnitz; hu, Selmecbánya (Selmec), ) is a town in central Slovakia, in the middle of an immense caldera created by the collapse of an ancient volcano. For its size, the caldera is known as the Štiavnica Mountain ...

which was called also Bana. The Hungarian name ''Feyerbanya'' and its variations are translations of the Slovak name. The origin of the German name ''Dill'' is uncertain. The first written mention is probably ''terra nomine bela'' (1288), older sources mention also an unreliable record ''terra banensium'' (1156).

History

The village arose by separation from

, but it was part of Banská Štiavnica again from 1873 to 1954. In 1331 , King

Béla IV Béla may refer to: * Béla (crater), an elongated lunar crater * Béla (given name), a common Hungarian male given name See also * Bela (disambiguation) * Belá (disambiguation) * Bělá (disambiguation) Bělá, derived from ''bílá'' (''whit ...

invited

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

miners from

and the village got the

name Dilln (''Dyln, Dilln, Dylen''). The village suffered from

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

raids during the

Ottoman wars A series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and various European states took place from the Late Middle Ages up through the early 20th century. The earliest conflicts began during the Byzantine–Ottoman wars, waged in Anatolia in ...

Genealogical resources

The records for genealogical research are available at the state archive "Statny Archiv in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia" * Roman Catholic church records (births/marriages/deaths): 1688-1895(parish A) * Lutheran church records (births/marriages/deaths): 1678-1905(parish B)