Veľká Lesná

Veľká Lesná (Slovak 1927-1948 "Rychvald" - until 1927 "Richvald"; German Reichwald , Hungarian Kristályfalu - until 1907 Richwald ) is a municipality in northeastern Slovakia with 498 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019), which belongs to the Okres Stará Ľubovňa , part of the Prešovský kraj , and is counted as part of the traditional Spiš landscape .

geography

Veľká Lesná sign

The municipality is located in the Zipser Magura in the valley of the Lesniansky potok brook , in the catchment area of the Dunajec . Thus it also belongs to the Zamagurie landscape . There is a connection to the Poprad valley via the Toporecké sedlo saddle, which is not passable in winter . The center of the village lies at an altitude of 605 m nm and is 16 kilometers from Spišská Stará Ves and 28 kilometers from Stará Ľubovňa .

Neighboring municipalities are Haligovce in the north, Veľký Lipník in the east, Toporec in the south, Reľov in the south-west, Zálesie and Havka in the west and Lechnica in the north-west.

history

Veľká Lesná was founded in the 13th century by the Görgey family; the area is already documented between 1235 and 1270. The name Richwald , which was mentioned in 1338 and refers to the densely wooded area, is directly linked to the place. In 1409 the Cracow merchant Walldorf donated half of the municipality to the Carthusian monastery from the Red Monastery , who only acquired the second half in the 16th century. There was a glassworks in the 18th century. In 1787 there were 99 houses and 737 inhabitants and in 1828 129 inhabitants and 932 inhabitants, who were mainly employed in forestry and agriculture. Nevertheless, there was massive emigration, especially at the end of the 19th century.

Until 1918 the place in Zips County belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary and then came to Czechoslovakia or now Slovakia.

population

According to the 2011 census, Veľká Lesná had 473 inhabitants, including 467 Slovaks, three Czechs and one Moravian. Two residents made no statement. 463 residents committed themselves to the Roman Catholic Church, four residents to the Greek Catholic Church and one resident to the Brethren Church. One resident was non-denominational and the denomination of four residents was not determined.

Results according to the 2001 census (437 inhabitants):

By ethnicity:

99.15% Slovaks
0.64% Czechs

By denomination:

0.85% Greek Catholic
98.73% Roman Catholic
0.21% no information
0.21% non-denominational

Buildings

Roman Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist from the 14th century, with fragments of the Renaissance frescoes; next to the church there is a listed, around 400 year old linden tree
Street chapel in the classical style from the beginning of the 19th century

Individual evidence

↑ 2011 census by ethnicity (Slovak) ( Memento from October 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
↑ 2011 census by denomination (Slovak) ( Memento from September 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

Commons : Veľká Lesná - collection of images, videos and audio files

Entry on e-obce.sk (Slovak)

[1] 2011 census by ethnicity (Slovak) ( Memento from October 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive )

[2] 2011 census by denomination (Slovak) ( Memento from September 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive )