Bardejov

Bardejov (; Template:Lang-de, Template:Lang-hu, Template:Lang-pl) is a town in North-Eastern Slovakia. It is situated in the Šariš region and has about 33,000 inhabitants. The spa town, mentioned for the first time in 1241, exhibits numerous cultural monuments in its completely intact medieval town center. The town is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.

Name

The name of the town comes from the Hungarian word "bárd" (English: "chopper"), which indicated an amount of forested territory which could be chopped down by one man in one day. In the Hungarian name (Bártfa), the "fa" (English: "tree") suffix came later, and it also changed the last letter of "bárd" to "bárt", for easier pronunciation.

History

The territory of present-day Bardejov has attracted settlers since the Stone Age. However, the first written reference to the town dates back to the 1240s, when monks from Bardejov complained to King Béla IV about a violation of the town’s borders by Prešov. By that time, the important church of Sv. Aegidius (St. Giles) had already been built. Heavily fortified in the 14th century, the town became a center of trade with Poland. More than 50 guilds controlled the flourishing economy. Bardejov gained the status of a royal town in 1376, later becoming a free royal town. The town’s golden age ended in the 16th century, when several wars, pandemics, and other disasters plagued the country.

Landmarks

Bardejov is dominated by the monumental church of Sv. Aegidius, mentioned for the first time in 1247. A three nave basilica with multiple chapels was completed by the 15th century. It hosts eleven precious Gothic winged altars with panel paintings. The central square (Slovak: Radničné námestie), which used to be the town’s medieval marketplace, is now surrounded by well-preserved Gothic and Renaissance burghers’ houses. One of the most interesting buildings is the town hall, built in 1505. The lower part was built in the Gothic style, while the upper part was finished in the Renaissance style. The fortification system and town walls date from the 14th and 15th centuries and is listed by the European Fund of Cultural Heritage as one of the most elaborate and best preserved medieval fortifications in Slovakia. This two-storey structure, with its high gables and dozens of carved statues and stone corbels, is considered Slovakia's earliest significant Renaissance building. Built in 1505-9, it is now the town's museum.

The ground floor was once an open arcade, and served as a market place: upstairs were the municipal rooms. The museum, whose exhibits are labelled in English, includes a model of the town in its 1450 heyday, including the then-recently built fortifications, comprising city walls, 23 towers, three main gates and a moat which was in places up to 10 metres deep and 23 metres wide, giving an indication of the town's contemporary significance.

Also on the museum's lower floor are examples of traditional 'Bakačiny' woven cloth - the textile trade was responsible for much of the town's wealth - and 54 ornate religious statuettes.

Upstairs are the state rooms, including a stunning meeting room with a rose-painted ceiling denoting the 'sub rosa' principle of confidentiality. Justice was handed down in these rooms by the city fathers; Bardejov's first Renaissance painting, by Teofil Stanzel, of the Last Judgement hangs symbolically on the wall. The museum also houses a collection of richly illuminated, hand-written fifteenth-century books, including legal texts.

About 2.5 km (1.5 miles) north of Bardejov is the spa town Bardejovské Kúpele. The therapeutic mineral water springs are claimed to be beneficial to people with oncological, blood circulation, and digestive tract problems. It also hosts an open air museum of folk architecture (skansen). The spa has played host to a number of dignitaries, including Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma (the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte), Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary.

Town quarters

The town consists of the following quarters:

1. Bardejov
2. Bardejovská Nová Ves
3. Bardejovská Zábava
4. Bardejovské Kúpele
5. Dlhá Lúka (annexed in 1971)
6. Mihaľov

Demographics

Bardejov has a population of 33,020 (as of December 31, 2010). According to the 2001 census, 91.3% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 2.6% Roma, 2.5% Rusyns, and 1.4% Ukrainians. The religious make-up was 63.2% Roman Catholics, 16.9% Greek Catholics, 7.6% Lutherans and 4.3% Eastern Orthodox.

Panaroma of Bardejov, summer 2008

The main square in Bardejov

Twin towns - sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Slovakia

Bardejov is twinned with:

• Jasło, Poland, since 1999
• Mogilev, Belarus
• Ashtabula, United States
• Sremski Karlovci in Serbia
• Molde, Norway
• Calais, France
• Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia
• Kaštela, Croatia
• Mikulov, Přerov, Česká Lípa, Czech Republic
• Ťjačevo, Ukraine
• Montemarciano, Italy
• Gorlice, Zamošč, Krynica, Jaslo, Muszyna, Poland

See also

• Battle of Bardejov

External links

• Official website
• Info website
• UNESCO site about Bardejov
• Organization of World Heritage Cities: Bardejov
• Spectacular Slovakia Travel guide- Bardejov: adopting an ungentelmanly poseSpectacular - Bardejoc: Pristine splendour in Sariš