Turčianske Teplice (german: Bad Stuben; hu, Stubnyafürdő) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in 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 ...

in the

Žilina Region The Žilina Region ( sk, Žilinský kraj; pl, Kraj żyliński; hu, Zsolnai kerület) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions and consists of 11 districts ( okresy) and 315 municipalities, from which 18 have a town status. The region ...

. It is about halfway between

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

and Kremnica. The town's population is around 6,500. The town was the historic center of the Upper Turiec subregion within the

Turiec Turiec is a region in central Slovakia, one of the 21 official tourism regions. The region is not an administrative division today, but between the late 11th century and 1920 it was the Turóc County in the Kingdom of Hungary. Etymology The reg ...

region (comitatus), and now enjoys the status of a capital of the

Turčianske Teplice District Turčianske Teplice District (''okres Turčianske Teplice'') is a district in the Žilina Region of central Slovakia. Until 1920, the district was part of Turóc County, Kingdom of Hungary. Municipalities * Abramová * Blažovce * Bodorová ...

History

The town is one of the oldest

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. He ...

s in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, and was originally known as ''Štubnianske Teplice''. It was first mentioned in text dating from 1281 when King

Ladislaus IV of Hungary Ladislaus IV ( hu, IV. (Kun) László, hr, Ladislav IV. Kumanac, sk, Ladislav IV. Kumánsky; 5 August 1262 – 10 July 1290), also known as Ladislaus the Cuman, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1272 to 1290. His mother, Elizabeth, wa ...

granted the lands surrounding the springs to a Count Peter. The

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

became popular with royalty, including King

Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...

of Hungary and Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. The recuperative abilities of the spa were first studied by the

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

of Halle medical student Jan Lisschoviny. Štubnianske Teplice was renamed Turčianske Teplice in 1946. In 1951 the town merged with the community of Vieska.

Geography

Turčianske Teplice lies at an altitude of above sea level and covers an area of . It lies in the Turiec Basin and is surrounded in proximity by the

Greater Fatra Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 *Greater Bank, an Australian ...

, Kremnica, Žiar and

Lesser Fatra Lesser, from Eliezer (, "Help/Court of my God"), is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adolf Lesser (1851–1926), German physician * Aleksander Lesser (1814–1884), Polish painter and art critic * Anton Lesser (born 1952), Briti ...

mountain ranges. The divisions of the town include: * Diviaky (1951-1955 and 1971) * Dolná Štubňa (incorporated in 1971) * Turčiansky Michal (incorporated in 1971) * Turčianske Teplice

Demographics

According to the 2001

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, the town had 7,031 inhabitants. 97.98% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 0.67%

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

and 0.37%

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

. The religious make-up was 48.09% Roman Catholics, 30.56%

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

, and 17.24% people with no religious affiliation.

Twin towns — sister cities

Turčianske Teplice is twinned with: *

Holešov Holešov (; german: Holleschau, he, העלשויא) is a town in Kroměříž District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre with the castle complex is well preserved and is protected ...

, Czech Republic *

Havířov Havířov (; pl, ) is a city in Karviná District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 69,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the region. Havířov lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia ...

, Czech Republic *

Skawina Skawina is a town in southern Poland with 27,328 inhabitants (2008). Situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Kraków Voivodeship (1975–1998). The town is located on the Skawinka river, in close proximity to the c ...

, Poland *

Wisła Wisła (; german: Weichsel; cs, Visla) is a town in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, with a population of about 11,132 (2019), near the border with Czech Republic. It is situated in the Silesian Beskids mountain range in t ...

, Poland *

Aranđelovac Aranđelovac ( sr-cyr, Аранђеловац, ) is a town and a municipality located in the Šumadija District of central Serbia. , the municipality has a population of 46,225 inhabitants, while the town has 24,797 inhabitants. It is situated be ...

, Serbia

Notable people

Mikuláš Galanda Mikuláš Galanda (4 May 1895 – 5 June 1938) was a painter and illustrator who was one of the most important pioneers and propagators of Slovak modern art. He is buried in the National Cemetery in Martin. Birth and education He was born in Mal ...

, a modern painter,

graphic Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture, ...

designer and illustrator. * Matúš Černák, diplomat * Jozef Lettrich, politician

References

External links

Town websiteSpa website
Cities and towns in Slovakia Spa towns in Slovakia {{Žilina-geo-stub