Budča ( hu, Zólyombúcs) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

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 ...

of the

Zvolen District Zvolen District (''okres Zvolen'') is a district in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. Until 1918, most of the present-day district belonged to the Zvolen county, apart from Lešť in the south-west which was part of the county of ...

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 ...

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 ...

Geography

Budča is situated approximately 5 km west of the town of

Zvolen Zvolen (; hu, Zólyom; german: Altsohl) is a town in central Slovakia, situated on the confluence of Hron and Slatina rivers, close to Banská Bystrica. It is surrounded by Poľana mountain from the East, by Kremnické vrchy from the West an ...

in a valley between the

Štiavnica Mountains The Štiavnica Mountains (also Štiavnické Mountains; sk, Štiavnické vrchy, ) are a volcanic mountain range southern central Slovakia. They are part of Inner Western Carpathians and the Slovenské stredohorie Mountains. The area is protected ...

and the

Kremnica Mountains The Kremnica Mountains ( sk, Kremnické vrchy, hu, Körmöci-hegység, german: Kremnitzer Berge) are a volcanic mountain range in central Slovakia. They are part of the Western Carpathians and the Slovenské stredohorie Mts. The mountain range ...

, near the

Hron The Hron ( sk, Hron; german: Gran; hu, Garam; la, Granus) is a long left tributary of the DanubeCracow highway, linking central

with the south and north. The village is surrounded on all sides by mountains.

Language, people, customs

The dialect of Budča is central Slovakian, with deviations from the standard language. Many elements in

Hont County Hont County was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Most of its territory is now part of Slovakia, while a smaller southern portion is part of Hungary. Today, in Slovakia Hont is the informal designation of the corres ...

's dialect are a result of the joint estate of Budča and

Dobrá Niva Dobrá Niva (german: Dobring; hu, Dobronya) is a village and municipality of the Zvolen District in the Banská Bystrica Region of Slovakia. The village has a castle. History In historical records, the village was first mentioned in 1254 (''Do ...

by the Esterházi family. Some traditional customs are observed, usually around

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

and

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

. Also, before and during weddings some traditions are kept.

Architecture, attractions, tourism

Older historical buildings, due to numerous wars, disasters, and invasion, no longer exist. In the 1990s significant new home construction began, and continued into the early 21st century. Proximity to Zvolen made the village a popular location for building houses. The slopes of the nearby mountains are a Protected Landscape Area and harbor native plants and

thermophile A thermophile is an organism—a type of extremophile—that thrives at relatively high temperatures, between . Many thermophiles are archaea, though they can be bacteria or fungi. Thermophilic eubacteria are suggested to have been among the earl ...

s, the northernmost point of their occurrence. Another natural attraction is Devil's Rock, located about 3 km west of the village on a steep slope above the main road to

Žiar nad Hronom Žiar nad Hronom (slang: Žiar, german: link=no, Heiligenkreuz, hu, Garamszentkereszt; until 1920 ''Svätý Kríž'' and until 1955 ''Svätý Kríž nad Hronom'') is a city in Banská Bystrica Region, Slovakia. Name development The name of the ...

; it resulted from volcanic origin of the surrounding mountains. There is a local legend about its origin: The Devil helped local fishermen with catches in return for a promise that they would never go to church. The men failed their promise, so the Devil began to accumulate rock

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

in the confines

Hron The Hron ( sk, Hron; german: Gran; hu, Garam; la, Granus) is a long left tributary of the Danube 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 ...

. There are not many other employment opportunities in Budča; however, there are plans to build an industrial park.

Transport

The village is easily accessible by local road and rail networks.

History

The village was first mentioned in the first half of the 13th century, when its original name was Bucha. Later, under Hungarian influences, the name changed to Bucs, then to Zólyóm Bucs. After 1918 it was Buča, and since 1928 it has been Budča. The first church was built in 1239 in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style. In the 16th and 17th centuries it was among the largest settlements in the region. Throughout its history Budča has been plagued by wars and rebellions: the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

; the Bethlen, Tököly and Rakoczy insurrections; both

World Wars A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

of the 20th century; and the soldiers of the Hungarian Republic of Councils. The village has experienced other disasters, of which the worst in recent times was a fire in 1900. Uprisings forced the people to withdraw into the mountains, where they founded the settlement called Old Budča. After the threats passed, the population returned to their original village and Old Budča disappeared, but its traces can still be seen. Inhabitants of the village were also actively involved in the

Slovak National Uprising The Slovak National Uprising ( sk, Slovenské národné povstanie, abbreviated SNP) was a military uprising organized by the Slovak resistance movement during World War II. This resistance movement was represented mainly by the members of the ...

(abbreviated SNP). Systems of education started early in Budča's history; from about 1239, religious education was reputedly taking place at the local pastorate. Journalist, educator, and raconteur Ľudo Zelienka taught there from 1940 to 1944. A new school was opened on 1September1964; the school was built primarily by the people of Budča themselves.

Region

Budča is home of the civic association named micro region Adela.

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20071217080336/http://www.statistics.sk/mosmis/eng/run.html *http://www.budca.sk/ *http://www.e-obce.sk/obec/budca/budca.html *http://www.oz-adela.szm.sk/Budca/budca.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Budca Villages and municipalities in Zvolen District