Dobšiná

Coordinates: 48°49′14″N 20°21′57″E / 48.82056°N 20.36583°E / 48.82056; 20.36583

Dobšiná
Town
Town hall in Dobšiná
Country	Slovakia
Region	Košice
District	Rožňava
Tourism region	Gemer
Elevation	468 m (1,535 ft)
Coordinates	48°49′14″N 20°21′57″E / 48.82056°N 20.36583°E / 48.82056; 20.36583
Area	82.727 km2 (32 sq mi)
Population	5,125 (31 December 2005)
Density	62 / km2 (161 / sq mi)
First mentioned	1326
Mayor	Karol Horník
Timezone	CET (UTC+1)
- summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	04925
Phone prefix	421-58
Car plate	RV
Location of Dobšiná in Slovakia
Location of Dobšiná in the Košice Region
Wikimedia Commons: Dobšiná
Statistics: MOŠ/MIS
Website: http://www.dobsina.sk

Dobšiná (German: Dobschau; Hungarian: Dobsina; Latin: Dobsinium) is a town in the Slovenské rudohorie mountains (Slovak Ore Mountains) in Slovakia, on the Slaná River, north-west of Košice.

Geography

It is situated between Revúcka vrchovina and Volovské vrchy in the Carpathians, and lies to the south of the beautiful Stratená valley, watered by the river Hnilec, and enclosed on all sides by mountains. The well-known ice cave Dobšinská Ice Cave (discovered in 1870) can be found in that valley and belongs to the territory of the village.

History

The first written reference to the settlement occurred in 1326; the text mentions that ethnic German mining experts had settled here. It received a town charter in 1417, becoming a major town for the minority of Carpathian Germans. The town was a center of mining (gold, silver, nickel, later iron, cobalt, copper, mercury etc.) and iron processing in the past. In the vicinity are mines of various materials, some of them very ancient.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census, the town had 4,896 inhabitants. 88.58% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 9.01% Roma, 0.63% Hungarians and 0.27% Czechs.^[1] The religious make-up was 35.23% Roman Catholics, 33.58% people with no religious affiliation, 25.25% Lutherans and 0.47% Greek Catholics.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Municipal Statistics". Statistical Office of the Slovak republic. Archived from the original on 2008-01-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20080111223415/http://www.statistics.sk/mosmis/eng/run.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• Official website (Slovak)