MARTIN, SLOVAKIA

'Martin' (Slovak: ''Turčiansky Svätý Martin'' until 1950, , German: ''Turz-Sankt Martin'', Latin: ''Sanctus Martinus / Martinopolis'') is a town in northern Slovakia, situated on the Turiec river, under the Malá Fatra mountains, near the city of Žilina. The population numbers approximately 61,000, which makes it the eighth largest town in Slovakia. It is the center of the Turiec region and the District of Martin.

Contents

City parts

Climate

History

Demographics

Sights

Education

Sport

Transport

Partner towns

Famous people

External links

References

City parts

Martin has 10 city parts: ''Jahodníky'', ''Ľadoveň'', ''Stred'', ''Sever'', ''Košúty'', ''Podháj'', ''Stráne'', ''Priekopa'', ''Tomčany'', ''Záturčie''

Climate

★ Average annual temperature: 7 - 7.5°C

★ Average annual rainfall: 750 - 860 m

History

The first recorded reference to Martin in written sources is dated to 1264 under the name of ''Zenthmarton''. The settlement was granted the status of a royal town in 1340.
In the turbulent 15th century, the town suffered from many disasters, for example from the attack of the Hussites in 1433, when the town was burned down. Just 10 years later, it was destroyed again by an earthquake and the town started to be slowly degraded from royal town to the privileged town and under direct influence of the Révay family.
Since the 18th century, the town became centre of the Turiec county
The town became the foremost Slovak cultural center in the 19th century. Several cultural institutions (including Slovak Matica and Slovak National Museum) were founded there. Most political activities leading to the Slovak national emancipation in the 19th and early 20th centuries were organized in or from Martin. The town was also industrialized at this time. The first printing works were established in 1869, the furniture factory ''Tatra nábytok'' in 1890, and so on.
The town lost its importance after Bratislava became the capital of Slovakia in 1918. Today, it is the seat of the Slovak National Library and Slovak Matica.
National Council of SR solemnly declared the City of Martin the center of national culture of the Slovaks on August 24-th, 1994.

Demographics

Martin has a population of 59,257 (as of December 31, 2005). According to the 2001 census, 94.9% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 1.6% Czechs, 0.5% Roma, and 0.2% Hungarians. The religious makeup was 44.1% Roman Catholics, 31.2% people with no religious affiliation, and 17.2% Lutherans.^[1]

Sights

The oldest building is a Romanesque church dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours (13th century). The Slovak National Museum placed its ethnographic collection to Martin. An open air museum in the suburbs ''Jahodnícke háje'' exhibits the traditional rural architecture and folk traditions of the region of Turiec. The Slovak National Cemetery is the official Slovak hall of fame, inspired by the Panthéon in Paris.
The town is surrounded by the Malá Fatra and Veľká Fatra mountain ranges, which in winter offer excellent conditions for skiing and in summer for hiking.

Education

A school of medicine (part of Comenius University) is also situated in Martin.

Sport

★ Ice hockey: MHC Martin plays in the Slovak Extraliga.

Transport

Martin is near the main Slovak road from Bratislava to Košice, as well being near the main railway.
It is connected directly to Žilina, Turčianske Teplice and Ružomberok.
Public transport is not only in Martin itself, but it also extends to the surrounding town of Vrútky and to three villages (Bystrička, Lipovec, Turčianske Kľačany)

Partner towns

★ Gotha, Germany

★ Hoogeveen, Netherlands

★ Karviná, Czech Republic

★ Jičín, Czech Republic

★ Kalisz, Poland

★ Bački Petrovac, Serbia

Famous people

★ Janko Alexy, painter

★ Miloš Alexander Bazovský, painter

★ Martin Benka, painter

★ Barbora Bobulová, actress

★ Zdeno Cíger, ice hockey player

★ Janko Jesenský, writer

★ Andrej Kmeť, scientist

★ Miloslav Schmidt, organizer of fire brigades

★ Róbert Švehla, ice hockey player

External links

★ Official municipal homepage of Martin

References

1. http://www.statistics.sk/mosmis/eng/run.html Municipal Statistics from the Statistical Office of the Slovak republic