Towns Involved in the Project
 

Iliašovce (Spišská Nová Ves District)
Levoča (Levoča District)
Mníšek nad Hnilcom (Gelnica District)
Nálepkovo (Gelnica District)
Rudňany (Spišská Nová Ves District)

Spišská Nová Ves (Spišská Nová Ves District)
Spišské Podhradie (Levoča District)
Spišský Hrhov (Levoča District)
Spišský Štvrtok  (Levoča District)
Švedlár (Gelnica District)

 

 

SPIŠSKÉ PODHRADIE

Background
Spišské Podhradie is a town with a rich history and a handicraft tradition - in the past it was famous mainly for its Dreveník travertine and popular Spiš frankfurters. Today it belongs to the Levoča district and has 3,840 inhabitants. The most numerous minority is the Roma - the statistics on long-term residency indicate that the Romany population constitutes 10% of the town. The unemployment rate is currently approximately 30%, and amongst the Roma it is almost 100%.

There are several important cultural monuments of both regional and international significance in Spišské Podhradie and its vicinity, which entails a strategic importance for the town in the development of tourism. The Spiš Castle (Spišský hrad) national cultural monument, the Church of the Holy Spirit national cultural monument in nearby Žehra, the Spišská Kapitula local cultural reservation, and the monument zone in the town center of Spišské Podhradie were all in 1993 included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.

Since 1989, transformation of the Slovak economic system and the subsequent decline of industrial and agricultural production in the town have caused a considerable decrease in employment. Textile production is continuing in the firm “Vzorodev”, which employs mostly women. The firm SLOVSTEIN processes stone. Exploitation of local limestone is threatening the State Nature Reservation “Dreveník” and at present its production is very low. The Spišské Podhradie Farm has merely 40 employees. High unemployment is having the most detrimental effect on the Romany minority (for whom it is nearly 100 per cent) and young school graduates who are leaving the town to find jobs in bigger cities.

Local associations and NGOs offer the citizens of Spišské Podhradie the possibility to develop free-time activities, as well as voluntary and public benefit work. The Town Sports Club provides an area for team sports such as football and ice hockey, and the Sports Club SLOVAN – Club UNESCO mainly supports bodybuilding and aerobics. The NGO Spiš Castle (Spišský hrad) focuses on tourism and cross-border cooperation. The Club of Civic Understanding KLOP brings together Romany and non-Romany volunteers with the aim of improving mutual relations and interethnic communication, while the Kolping Society of Slovakia focuses on providing educational activities and supporting small business development.

History
This small town was established before the Tartar invasion, perhaps as early as the 11th century. German colonists settled the land around Spiš Castle, and the settlement allegedly had its own church and priest. After the Tartar invasion in 1271, a new wave of immigrants helped the quickly developing village acquire some municipal privileges. In 1456, the town was granted the privilege of a free market. In the 16th century, the first craft guilds started to appear. One of the oldest guilds was that of clothiers, but there certainly existed guilds of tailors, butchers, millers, carpenters, dyers, and others. Close to the city, there were in the past eleven flourmills, as well as one large lime-quarry and four smaller ones.

Of its misfortunes, it is worth mentioning that in 1583 the town was almost completely destroyed by fire, in 1710 it experienced a severe epidemic in which some 1800 people died, and in 1831 the town witnessed a peasant revolt, for which many rebels were harshly punished.

At the end of the 19th century the development of industry in the town was supported when it was connected to the Košice-Bohumin railway that led from another small town named Spišské Vlachy. Spišské Podhradie made its name mainly for the mining of special limestone (in the locality of Dreveník) and its popular Spiš sausages.

Involvement with the Program
Since the beginning of YOUR SPIŠ, cooperation with the town mayor, František Slebodník, and other representatives of the Local Authority has been very intensive. The local government prepares informational meetings with residents, provides free local premises for the program, and seeks to identify underutilized human resources and possibilities for developing the job market.

Since the end of 2001, thanks partly to support from YOUR SPIŠ, community members have had the pleasure of using a local skating rink, where the local ice-hockey club offers sports events and related activities that enrich community life. In addition, the Initiative of Roma Tenants from 40 Prešovská Street is implementing the project Lanyovec. Its aim is to improve hygienic conditions in the members’ apartment building by constructing sanitary facilities for individual housing units.