17 Nov /16

Slovakia – Interesting Facts and Trivia

Slovakia
Slovakia – Interesting Facts and Trivia – EVS Translations

When thinking of castles and chateaux, logically most of our minds will drift to France, Germany, Austria, or somewhere in Western Europe. However, that is a bit too far west as Slovakia, with a population of slightly less than 5.5 million, possesses 180 castles and 425 chateaux, which is the highest concentration per capita in the world.

This is NOT Slovenia! Looking and sounding very similar, some people easily confuse Poland-bordering Slovakia with Italy-bordering Slovenia, which is compounded by the fact that the Slovakian name for Slovakia is Slovensko. If you have previously made this mistake, do not worry, you are not alone: staff of the Slovak and Slovene embassies apparently meet monthly to exchange wrongly-addressed mail.

People have liked living in Slovakia for a really long time. More than 80,000 years old, one of Europe’s oldest Paleolithic sites can be found near Košice. Additionally, the oldest artefact found in Slovakia, the Moravian Venus, was carved from a mammoth tusk and is approximately 25,000 years old.

Movies and popular culture, especially in the past, typically depict Gypsies (Romani) when showing Romania; however, looking at a 2009 study examining the Y-chromosome (male), as much as 2.5% of Eastern Slovak males belong to this specific group, compared to Romania, with less than 1%.

If not for a Slovakian, you might reconsider jumping out of that plane. Yes, for many of us, jumping out of a plane is never an option; however, for those adventurous among us, you can be thankful that, in 1913, Stefan Banic patented the first parachute.

Kremnica, an otherwise unassuming small town in central Slovakia, is the home to the oldest continually-operating mint in the world. Originally producing gold florins and Kremnica ducats and known internationally for the quality of their coins, the town (and mint) were first mentioned in 1328, when they were granted royal privileges by Charles I of Hungary. So, why Kremnica? They happen to be, literally, right on top of a gold mine.

When it comes to art and architecture, Slovakia has a lot to boast about. In addition to 50 wooden churches throughout the country, there village of Čičmany, consisting of 130 decorated houses, has the distinction of being the world’s first reservation of folk architecture. If you prefer art to architecture, the medieval town of Levoča is home to the highest wooden altar in the world: carved in the Church of St. James and made entirely of wood, without the use of nails, by Master Pavol, the altar measures an astounding 18.6 meters high by 6 meters wide and is truly breathtaking.

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