| Bardejov | ||
| Town | ||
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The Town Hall Square (Radničné námestie) in Bardejov
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| Country | Slovakia | |
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| Region | Prešov | |
| District | Bardejov | |
| River | Topľa | |
| Elevation | 283 m (928 ft) | |
| Coordinates | ||
| Area | 72.78 km2 (28.1 sq mi) | |
| Population | 33,020 (2010-12-31) | |
| Density | 454 / km2 (1,176 / sq mi) | |
| First mentioned | 1241 | |
| Timezone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| - summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| Postal code | 08501 | |
| Area code | +421-54 | |
| Car plate | BJ | |
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | ||
| Name | Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve | |
| Year | 2000 (#24) | |
| Number | 973 | |
| Region | Europe and North America | |
| Criteria | iii, iv | |
| IUCN category | Cultural | |
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Location in Slovakia
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Location in the Prešov Region
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| Wikimedia Commons: Bardejov | ||
| Statistics: MOŠ/MIS | ||
| Website: www.e-bardejov.sk | ||
Bardejov (; German: Bartfeld, Hungarian: Bártfa, Polish: Bardiów) 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.
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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.
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.
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.
About 2.5 km (1.6 mi) 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.[1]
The town consists of the following boroughs:
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.[2]
Bardejov is twinned with:
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