LEVICE
County: Nitra
District: Levice
Region: Tekov
Coordinates: 48° 12' 59" N
18° 36' 29" E
Altitude: 163 m
Area: 60,99 km2
Population: 35 188
Density of Population: 577/km2
First Written Reference: y. 1156
Address: Municipal Office of Levice,
nám. Hrdinov 1, 934 01 Levice
Website: www.levice.sk
Mayor: Ing. Štefan Mišák
As per first written reference to Levice dated 1156, Martirius, the archbishop of Esztergom, hallowed a church built in the given year by the district administrator Euzidin in a village called Bratka. Further reference to the history of Levice can be only found in a document dated 1318. It is the first written reference to the existence of the Levice castle which was built on a low rocky point above swamps of the Hron river. For centuries it was a detached bastion on the way to mining towns of Central Slovakia. Documentary sources mention Matuš Čák as the first owner of the castle.
The growing town of Nové Levice belonged to the Levice castle and in 1388 the town had the right to organize markets and collect tolls. Frequent and destructive invasions of the Turks brought suffering to inhabitants of the small town and to the whole neighbourhood. Many were deported and taken captive and Levice was burnt out several times.
Despite the fact Levice gained strength in the first half of the 17th century, the town became an administrative and economic centre of the castle manor and was later a marketplace where craft manufacture was concentrated to a large extent. In addition to two weekly fairs, big annual fairs took place here since 1615.
The Levice castle which is inseparably linked to the history of this town discontinued to work as a fortress by an imperial order in 1699. Despite the fact it was a cause of depredation in some battles and only in 1709 it was destroyed so much that it absolutely declined in importance of a military fortress.
History lovers can also visit the Tekov museum where there are abundant expositions of regional archaeology, history, nature and local pharmaceutics.
There is also a European rarity here – stone dwellings in the village of Brhlovce. Nature lovers can come and see a preserved educational area called Levické rybníky (fishponds), or a national natural reserve called Horšianska dolina (valley) with abundant fauna and flora. One of the significant natural areas is also Vápnik (Šiklóš) – the largest travertine deposit in a lowland called Podunajská nížína.
