Stará Ľubovňa

Stará Ľubovňa
City
Stará Ľubovňa Castle and an open-air folk museum
Car plate		SL
Website	www.staralubovna.sk

Stará Ľubovňa (

. The town consists of the districts Podsadek and Stará Ľubovňa.

Names

The name is of Slovak or Slavic origin and is potentially derived from a personal name. It comes from a root ľub- meaning lovely, nicely.[3] The same root is present in Czech Libeň, Polish Lublin, Slovenian Ljubljana and others similar Slavic geographic names. The German name Altlublau and the Hungarian Ólubló were derived from the Slovak version.^[3]

Geography

Stará Ľubovňa is situated on the

.

History

In 1292 Stará Ľubovňa is first mentioned as Libenow. Until it became a free royal town in 1364 the town fell under the jurisdiction of the castle.

In 1412 it belonged to the 16 Spiš towns given by the Hungarian King

the territory came back to the Kingdom of Hungary. The pledge was actually an advantage for the towns concerned because they did not have to submit themselves to the comitatus or nobility and had a neutral position in turmoils between Poland and Hungary.

Sights

From a hill over the city the castle of Ľubovňa dominates the city. The castle is open to the public and houses a museum about its history. From its already reconstructed tower there are good views over the surroundings. Next to the castle there is an open-air museum, Ľubovniansky skanzen, with many houses and other buildings showing the folk architecture of the region. The most interesting exhibit is the wooden Greek-Catholic church from Matysová, built in 1833.

The old town consists mainly of the rectangular St. Nicolas Square which is surrounded by burgher's houses of the 17th century. In the centre there is the gothic Roman Catholic Church of St. Nicolas built in 1280.

Another building of interest is the new Greek-Catholic church of the Mother of Eternal Help in the south of the city. It was consecrated by Pope John Paul II on 22 April 1990 and is constructed in the shape of a royal crown.

Demographics

In the 2011 population census, the town had 16,341 residents. According to the 2001

Famous residents

• Ján Melkovič, actor
• Ján Kubašek, priest and signatory of the Pittsburgh Agreement
• Marián Hossa, professional ice hockey right winger
• Marcin Oracewicz [pl]
• Zita Pleštinská, politician and Member of the European Parliament

Twin towns — sister cities

Stará Ľubovňa is

Gallery

• 
  Castle from above

References

Bibliography

• Okresný národný výbor: Okres Stara Ľubovňa
• Turistický sprievodca: Slovenské kráľovské mestá Bardejov, Kežmarok, Levoča, Stará Ľubovňa

External links

• Official website
• Museum of Stará Ľubovňa^{[permanent dead link]}