Nitra

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Coordinates: 48°18′25″N 18°05′11″E / 48.30694, 18.08639

Nitra

City

Coat of arms

Country

Region

District

River

Elevation

190 m (623 ft)

Coordinates

48°18′25″N 18°05′11″E / 48.30694, 18.08639

Area

100.48 km² (38.8 sq mi)

Population

84,800 (2006-12-31)

Density

844 /km² (2,186 /sq mi)

First mentioned

828

Mayor

Jozef Dvonč

Timezone

CET (UTC+1)

- summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal code

949 01

Area code

+421-37

Car plate

Location in Slovakia

Location the Nitra Region

Wikimedia Commons: Nitra

Statistics: MOŠ/MIS

Website: www.nitra.sk

Nitra (German: Neutra, pronunciation (help·info); Hungarian: Nyitra / Nyitria [archaic]) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the Nitra River valley. With a population of 85,000, it is the fifth largest city in Slovakia. Nitra is also one of the oldest cities in Slovakia and the country's earliest political and cultural center. Today, it is a seat of a kraj (Nitra Region) and an okres (Nitra District).

1 History
2 Geography
- 2.1 Climate
3 Demographics
4 Landmarks
5 Education
6 Famous people
7 Sister cities
8 Images
9 See also
10 References
11 External links

[edit] History

Inhabited for 6,000 years,^[1] Nitra has been a city of extraordinary historic importance. A large Celtic settlement was founded in the 4th century BCE in the locality Martinský vrch. Nitra is later (396 CE) mentioned in connection to the Germanic tribe of Quadi, as their possible capital.

The first Slavs arrived in the 5th century. Nitra became the capital of the Principality of Nitra, the oldest known independent state of the (proto-)Slovaks. The first known Christian church built by the Western or Eastern Slavs was consecrated in 828 at the seat of the ruling prince Pribina. In 833, Pribina was ousted from Nitra by the Moravian prince Mojmír I and both principalities were united into the early medieval empire of Great Moravia. The Principality of Nitra was usually given to the heir of the Great Moravian throne as an appanage. But the practice eventually threatened unity of Great Moravia. Using rich resources of Nitra, both Prince Svätopluk I and Prince Svätopluk II revolted against their formal sovereigns. The level of autonomy they enjoyed was considerable, as documented by the Papal correspondence, addressing Svätopluk I of Nitra in the same way as two contemporaneous rulers of independent countries (Rastislav of Great Moravia, and Koceľ of the Balaton Principality).

The city reached its height during the reign of Svätopluk I, who was the prince of Nitra from the 850s to 871 and then the king of Great Moravia until 894. The first known Christian bishopric in Slovakia was established in Nitra in 880 (with Wiching as the bishop) and the first monastery in Slovakia was built on the Zobor Mountain during 880-881. During Svätopluk's rule, Nitra consisted of five large fortified settlements and twenty specialized craftsmen's villages, making it a real metropolis of its times. Several churches, for example in the Nitra Castle, Párovce, Nitrianska Blatnica, Lupka, Zobor, and Kostoľany pod Tribečom existed in and around today's Nitra during the 9th and 10th centuries. Located beyond the city limits are the Great Moravian settlements of Chrenová, Lupka, Branč, Vráble and Zlaté Moravce.

Nitra was conquered by a Magyar chieftain Lehel around 925. The Great Moravian appanage system was adopted by the Árpád dynasty of the newly established Kingdom of Hungary. As the seat a heir of the dynasty, Nitra kept its autonomous status until 1108. Even after the abolishment of the principality, Nitra remained the capital of the Nitra county and a seat of a bishop. In 1248, Béla IV gave Nitra the privileges of a free royal town. Nitra was conquered by Ottoman troops in 1663 and became center of the Litra sanjak, which bounded to Uyvar eyalet. Austrian troops reconquered Nitra in 1685.

[edit] Geography

Nitra lies at an altitude of 190 metres (623 ft) above sea level and covers an area of 100.48 square kilometres (38.8 sq mi).^[2] It is located in the Nitra River valley in the Danubian Lowland, at the southernmost reaches of the Tribeč mountains, more precisely at the foothill of the Zobor mountain (587 m). It is around half-way between Slovak capital Bratislava, 92 kilometres (57 mi) away and central Slovak city of Banská Bystrica, 118 kilometres (73 mi) away.

[edit] Climate

Nitra lies in the north temperate zone and has a continental climate with four distinct seasons. It is characterized by a significant variation between hot summers and cold, snowy winters.

Weather averages for Nitra
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average high °C (°F)	2 (35)	5 (41)	10 (50)	16 (62)	22 (72)	25 (77)	27 (80)	27 (81)	21 (70)	15 (60)	8 (47)	2 (36)
Average low °C (°F)	-4 (25)	-3 (27)	0 (33)	5 (41)	10 (49)	13 (55)	14 (58)	14 (58)	10 (51)	6 (43)	2 (36)	-3 (27)
Precipitation cm (inch)	2.78 (1.09)	2.61 (1.03)	2.84 (1.12)	4.96 (1.95)	4.80 (1.89)	5.64 (2.22)	6.87 (2.70)	4.97 (1.96)	6.51 (2.56)	3.95 (1.56)	4.70 (1.85)	3.28 (1.29)
Source: MSN Weather^[3] 21 January 2008

[edit] Demographics

View from the south side of Tte Nitra Castle (in focus 3 church steeples)

Nitra has a population of 85,172 (as of December 31, 2005). According to the 2001 census, 95.4% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 1.7% Hungarians, 0.9% Czechs, and 0.4% Roma. The religious make-up was 74.2% Roman Catholics, 17.2% people with no religious affiliation, and 2.8% Lutherans.^[2]

[edit] Landmarks

Notable religious structures located in Nitra are the St. Emmeram Cathedral, a Piarist church, a Roman Catholic religious congregation founded by Saint Joseph Calasanctius and a monastery founded in 1701. The monastery church was completed in 1716, but was later destroyed by a fire and remodelled from 1742-1748 in baroque style. Two towers were also added onto the church. The interior was renovated in 1940 and three modern frescos depicting themes from Slovak history of Nitra were created.

The old town (Staré Mesto) is dominated by a castle (Hrad), which is one of the most interesting ancient complexes of buildings in Slovakia. Archeological findings in the past decades indicate that a large fortified castle had already stood here at the time of Samo's Empire, in the seventh century. Recent archeological findings prove the existence of a church from the ninth century beneath the younger, Gothic St. Emmeram Cathedral. The construction of the stone castle began during the 9th century during the reign of the Prince of Nitra Svätopluk. The castle currently serves as the seat of one of Roman-Catholic bishoprics in Slovakia, which was founded in 880 as the first bishopric of western and eastern Slavs, ceased to exist in the 10th century and was refounded around 1110.

The most powerful medium wave transmitter of Slovakia, running on 1098 kHz, was situated in Nitra at Velke Kostolany until recently. This transmitter could broadcast throughout all of Europe at night. Since 2003, however, it has operated on lower output to save energy cost, and has transmitted regional programming only.

[edit] Education

The Grand Seminary at Pribina's Square

Nitra is the seat of two universities: University of Constantinus the Philosopher, with 13,684 students, including 446 doctoral students.^[4] and of the the Slovak University of Agriculture, with 10,297 students, including 430 doctoral students.^[5]. The city's system of primary education consists of 14 public schools and three religious primary schools, enrolling in overall 6,945 pupils.^[6] Secondary education is represented by five gymnasia with 3,349 students,^[7], 8 specialized high schools with 3,641 students,^[8] and 5 vocational students with 3,054 students.^[9]^[10]

[edit] Famous people

Svätopluk's Square and the Nitra Museum with a large exhibition of Great Moravian artifacts

Béla I of Hungary (?-1063), Duke of Nitra, King of Hungary
Saint Bystrík (?-1046), Bishop of Nitra
Vilmos Fraknói (1843-1924), Hungarian historian
Koceľ, Prince of the Balaton Principality
Juraj Kolník (1980-), ice hockey player
Anton Lehmden (1929-), painter, draughtsman, and printmaker
Branislav Mezei (1980-), ice hockey player
Ľubomír Moravčík (1965-), football player
Zita Pleštinská, maiden name Kányaiová (1961-), member of the European Parliament
Pribina (?-861), Prince of the Nitra and Balaton principalities
Štefan Ružička(1985-), ice hockey player
Jozef Stümpel (1972-), ice hockey player
Svatopluk I (830 - 894), Prince of Nitra, King of Great Moravia
Svatopluk II, Prince of Nitra