Rožňava

Rožňava
Rožňava; Hungarian: Rozsnyó; German: Rosenau; Latin: Rosnavia
	— Town —
	Town tower of Rožňava
	; Coat of arms
	; Coat of arms
	Rožňava District in Kosice Region
	; ; Rožňava Location of Rožňava in Slovakia
	; ; Rožňava Location of Rožňava in Košice Region
	Coordinates: 48°39′30″N 20°31′51″E / 48.65833, 20.53083
Country	Slovakia
Region	Košice
Districts of Slovakia	Rožňava
First mentioned	1291
	Government
• Mayor	Pavol Burdiga
	Area
• Total	45.61 km2 (17.61 sq mi)
Elevation	313 m (1,027 ft)
	Population (31/12/2014)
• Total	18 368
• Density	403/km2 (1,040/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	048 01
Area code	421-58
Vehicle registration	RV
Website	http://www.roznava.sk/

Main	Births etc

Rožňava (Hungarian: Rozsnyó, German: Rosenau, Latin: Rosnavia) is a town in Rožňava District, Košice Region of Slovakia, approximately 71 kilometres (44 miles) by road from Košice in the Košice Region, and has a population of 19,505.

The town is an economic and tourist centre of the Gemer. Rožňava is now a popular tourist attraction with a beautiful historic town centre. The town is an episcopal seat. It has above all food, textile and remnants of mining industries.

History[]

Archaeological finds show that the region was densely settled by miners as early as around 1200. The first written mention stems from 1291, the royal free town status from 1410. The Roman Catholic diocese of Rožňava was founded in 1776.

In the Middle Ages, Rožňava was a prosperous mining town for gold, silver, and iron. Mining activities stagnated from the 16th century (when territories to the south of the town were conquered by Ottoman Turks). Mining - this time mainly of iron ore - was renewed around 1800 and was present in the town throughout the 20th century.

The name of the town probably derives from the German and/or Hungarian words for rose (Rose and Rózsa, respectively).

During World War II, Rožňava was captured on 23 January 1945 by troops of the Romanian 4th Army, acting as a part of the Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front.

On 13 September 2003, Rožňava was visited by Pope John Paul II.

Noteworthy buildings[]

an important Mining Museum
a completely preserved medieval central town square with burgher houses
the Cathedral (Gothic, late 13th century) with many precious historic art objects, especially a Renaissance painting of Mestercia showing realistic mining motifs
the Town Tower (Renaissance, 1654) in the middle of the central town square
the Jesuit church (Baroque, 1687)
the Bishop's residence (Baroque-Classical, arose 1778 from older houses) with a plague column in front of the building
a town hall (Classical, 1711)
an Evangelic Lutheran church (Classical, 1786)
a Reformed church (neo-Gothic, 1905)

Demographics[]

According to the 2001 census, the town had 19,261 inhabitants. 69.27% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 26.80% Hungarians, 1.59% Roma and 0.69% Czechs.^[1] The religious make-up was 41.08% Roman Catholics, 32.34% people with no religious affiliation, 12.03% Lutherans and 1.33% Greek Catholics.^[1]

Notable citizens[]

Pavel Jozef Šafárik, poet and philologist.
Dana Velďáková, triple jumper
Jana Velďáková, long jumper
Henrieta Farkašová, gold medal winner at the 2010 Winter Paralympics and at 2014 Sochi Paralympics