Spišská Belá (german: Zipser Bela; hu, Szepesbéla; pl, Biała Spiska) is a town in the

Kežmarok District Kežmarok District (Slovak: ''okres Kežmarok'') is a district in the Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia. Its seat, cultural and economic center is Kežmarok, the traditional center of the historic Spiš region. The Kežmarok district was establi ...

in the Prešov Region in

Spiš Spiš (Latin: ''Cips/Zepus/Scepus/Scepusia'', german: Zips, hu, Szepesség/Szepes, pl, Spisz) is a region in north-eastern Slovakia, with a very small area in south-eastern Poland (14 villages). Spiš is an informal designation of the territory ...

in northern

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 ...

. Prior to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, it was in Szepes county in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

History

The town was first mentioned in historical records in 1263. The town received town rights in 1271. Scientist and inventor

Joseph Petzval Joseph Petzval (6 January 1807 – 17 September 1891) was a mathematician, inventor, and physicist best known for his work in optics. He was born in the town of Szepesbéla in the Kingdom of Hungary (in German: Zipser Bela, now Spišská Belá i ...

was born here in 1807. The town center has been designated an historic district. The church in the center of the square was built in the 15th century. The tower next to the church was dedicated to when to town received town rights back in 1271.

Geography

The town 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 ...

lies at an altitude of 631 metres and covers an area of 33.94 km². It has a population of about 6,189 people.

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 6,136 inhabitants. 94.82% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 3.18% Roma, 0.31%

Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...

and 0.26%

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 makeup was 85.46% Roman Catholics, 4.61% people with no religious affiliation, 3.49%

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 1.22%

Greek Catholics The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...

Famous people

, scientist and inventor

Twin towns — sister cities

Spišská Belá is twinned with: *

Vysoké Mýto Vysoké Mýto (; german: Hohenmaut, also ''Hohenmauth'') is a town in Ústí nad Orlicí District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. Its town square is the largest example of its type in the country. ...

, Czech Republic *

Brück Brück is a town in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 29 km southwest of Potsdam, and 28 km southeast of Brandenburg. Parts of Brück are located in the High Fläming Nature Park. At Brück, there ...

, Germany *

Ożarów Ożarów () is a town in Poland, in the province of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in Opatów county (Powiat of Opatów), historic Lesser Poland, with 10,399 inhabitants as of December 31, 2021. Ożarów received its town charter in 1569, during t ...

, Poland *

Szczawnica Szczawnica is a resort town in Nowy Targ County in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. As of June 30, 2007, its population was 7,378. Szczawnica has been a well-known resort town since the mid nineteenth century. Due to the presence o ...

, Poland

References

External links

Official website
Cities and towns in Slovakia Villages and municipalities in Kežmarok District Spiš {{Prešov-geo-stub