Talk:Levice

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WEB:www.levice.sk

Postal code: 934 01

Preselection: +42136

Number of inhabitants: 36782

Altitude: 163 m

TOWN MUNICIPALITY: adress: Námestie hrdinov 1, Levice contact: phone +42136/6350 211 fax +42136/6350 901 e-mail msu@levice.sk />

Tourist information agency: Holubyho 2, Levice, 036/6318 037 Information service EDB: 036/16185

History

The first written record of Levice is from 1156 and mentions Martirius, the archbishop of Esztergom (Hungary), who consecrated the church in Bratka village dedicated to St.Martin. There was established a parish where the villages "villa Leua" and Vitk were annexed. At that time the village of Leua (Levice) was a subject to the Tekov castle, and was situated on the east part of today’s town Levice, somewhere on the slopes of the vineyard, which is still called Old Levice. The castle in Levice was built in the 13th century, when the Tartar-looted Tekovsky castle’s importance declined. It was built on andesite rock, the remain of Neogenic volcanic activity, which continued to the Štiavnica hills. From the west side the castle was bounded with the marshy meadow of the river Hron, with its several river branches. The castle itself had been a fortress for protection of the mining towns. Under the protection of the castle in the 14th century there had been established a settlement "Big" or "Old Levice", which is now the real predecessor of today’s Levice town.

The 150 years Turkish occupation, which started in the 16th century, weakened economically the town and made it more dependent on the castle’s estate. In this time the Levice castle, then already a royal castle, was listed among the 15 most important defence forts. In the middle of 17th century the Turkish incursions grew stronger. Seeing the enemy’s huge odds the captain gave up Levice without resistance. The Turk’s rule in Levice lasted for only 224 days, when in 1664 by an unexpected action they were expelled out of the town. After the end of the Turkish wars Levice lost its important role as a frontier-castle and in 1699 in accordance with official orders it was abolished as a fort. Frequent fires meant for Levice great disasters. In 1696 flames destroyed almost the whole town. In 1715 there were 195 taxpayers and 43 craftsmen in the town. In the time of Rákoczy’s Revolt in the 18th century the castle was in a very bad condition. In order to prevent from using the castle for military purposes the rebels before leaving decided to destroy it. The castle has never been reestablished and thus it lost its military importance. In the second half of 18th century Levice significantly grew, became an agricultural centre of the southern riverside of Hron and vivid trade and artisan in organised trade guild were going on in the town. The best known and because of their products the most famous guilds were those of boot-makers, cobblers and button-makers. In the 19th century the number of small enterprises gradually grew; the trade, which mostly concentrated in hands of Jewish entrepreneurs, developed as well. The investments of the richest families Leidenfrost and Schoeller mostly concerned the agriculture and some other industries: they built a liqueur factory with distillery, steam flourmill, brickwork, they planned new vineyards and also extended selective cattle breeding. In 1873 there were 6000 inhabitants in Levice. In the first half of 20th century during the first Czechoslovak Republic began Levice’s architectural, town-planning development. In 1933 was built the tobacco-factory. In the fifties there was a big housing shortage in Levice, because country people moved to the town in large numbers. In 1961 there were 13744 inhabitants in the town and Levice became an enlarged district’s centre. To the end of eighties the number of inhabitants increased to 37500. The originally separate communities of Kalinčiakovo and Malý Kiar were administratively incorporated into Levice in 1976, and the settlements of Čankov and Horša joined the town in 1986.

The Castle The most significant building of the town is the castle fortress built in the second half of the 13th century on a steep hillside extending to a swamp. In the upper section of the castle ruins of the Gothic palace, the oldest part of the fortress, remained. At the walls of its eastern side some of the bastion lower parts remained where a summerhouse was built in the 19th century (nowadays it is run as a teahouse). There also remained fortress’s external walls, corner stone framing, the oldest Gothic palace’s portal, some parts of plaster and fortification. In the 16th century the fortress was enlarged, strengthened by a bulwark and a palisade bastion was raised on its top and later it was gradually replaced by stonewalls, with bastions for cannons on their corners. The other fortress buildings from the times of the Turkish wars close the lower bailey. The biggest one (the Dobó’s Mansion) dated back to 1571 - a rectangular Renaissance castle with a storied keep above the entrance from the town side. This entrance could only be approached from outside across the drawbridge. In the 17th century this castle was rebuilt in Baroque style and elevated by another storey. On the western side of the yard the Captain’s house was built and on the north-western part there is a huge multi-angular gun bastion, where in the old times a castle chapel was situated and used during the Turkish occupations as a mosque. During feudal uprisings in the 17th century the castle was badly damaged. In 1702 Rákoczy’s rebels occupied the castle and before leaving Levice in 1709 they decided to destroy it. They burned it down, ruined the castle walls, filled the moats with ruins and thus the castle lost its function as a military fort. Less damaged buildings of the lower castle were later repaired and useless annexes were removed. Since 1958 the Tekov Museum has been seated here.

Churches The Eszterházy family during the period from 1773 to 1780 built the Classicist parish-church of St.Michael Archangel on the site of the old church destroyed in the great fire. Over the main pediment front there is built-on a double-tower superstructure. On the straight pediment between the towers is the statue of St.Ladislaus. The Classicist altar was built in 1793 and has an illusive columnar architecture with symmetrically placed sculptures. In the middle there is a picture of St. Michael Archangel, after the painting of Quido Reni. Remarkable carved late-Baroque wooden benches from the middle of the 18th century show scenes from St.Francis’s life. The classicist epitaph of the Eszterházy family with a plastic family coat of arms and inscription comes from the year 1786. Franciscan-Minorites built the Roman Catholic church of St. Joseph with an adjacent cloister building. In 1814 the Piarist order took the cloister over and opened a grammar school there. The church was rebuilt in 1773.

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 * The castle in Levice was built in the 13th century, when the Tartar-looted Tekovsky castle’s importance declined. It was built on andesite rock, the remain of Neogenic volcanic activity, which continued to the Štiavnica hills. From the west side the castle was bounded with the marshy meadow of the river Hron, with its several river branches. The castle itself had been a fortress for protection of the mining towns. Under the protection of the castle in the 14th century there had been established a settlement "Big" or "Old Levice", which is now the real predecessor of today’s Levice town. The most significant building of the town is the castle fortress built in the second half of the 13th century on a steep hillside extending to a swamp. In the upper section of the castle ruins of the Gothic palace, the oldest part of the fortress, remained. At the walls of its eastern side some of the bastion lower parts remained where a summerhouse was built in the 19th century (nowadays it is run as a teahouse). There also remained fortress’s exterior walls, corner stone framing, the oldest Gothic palace’s portal, some parts of plaster and fortification. In the 16th century the fortress was enlarged, strengthened by a bulwark and a palisade bastion was raised on its top and later it was gradually replaced by stonewalls, with bastions for cannons on their corners. The other fortress buildings from the times of the Turkish wars close the lower bailey. The biggest one (the Dobó’s Mansion) dated back to 1571 - a rectangular Renaissance castle with a storied keep above the entrance from the town side. This entrance could only be approached from outside across the drawbridge. In the 17th century this castle was rebuilt in Baroque style and elevated by another storey. On the western side of the yard the Captain’s house was built and on the north-western part there is a huge multi-angular gun bastion, where in the old times a castle chapel was situated and used during the Turkish occupations as a mosque. During feudal uprisings in the 17th century the castle was badly damaged. In 1702 Rákoczy’s rebels occupied the castle and before leaving Levice in 1709 they decided to destroy it. They burned it down, ruined the castle walls, filled the moats with ruins and thus the castle lost its function as a military fort. Less damaged buildings of the lower castle were later repaired and useless annexes were removed. Since 1958 the Tekov Museum has been seated here.


 * The Eszterházy family during the period from 1773 to 1780 built the Classicist parish-church of St.Michael Archangel on the site of the old church destroyed in the great fire. Over the main pediment front there is built-on a double-tower superstructure. On the straight pediment between the towers is the statue of St.Ladislaus. The Classicist altar was built in 1793 and has an illusive columnar architecture with symmetrically placed sculptures. In the middle there is a picture of St. Michael Archangel, after the painting of Quido Reni. Remarkable carved late-Baroque wooden benches from the middle of the 18th century show scenes from St.Francis’s life. The classicist epitaph of the Eszterházy family with a plastic family coat of arms and inscription comes from the year 1786. Franciscan-Minorites built the Roman Catholic church of St. Joseph with an adjacent cloister building. In 1814 the Piarist order took the cloister over and opened a grammar school there. The church was rebuilt in 1773.

(WT-en) Michal Stankoviansky 05:12, 20 April 2009 (EDT)