Rožňava

Rožňava (pronunciation ⁱ ; Hungarian: Rozsnyó, German: Rosenau, Latin: Rosnavia) is a town in Slovakia, approximately 71 kilometres (44 miles) by road from Košice in the Košice Region, and has a population of 19,182.

The town is an economic and tourist centre of the Gemer region. Rožňava is now a popular tourist attraction with a beautiful historic town centre. The town is an episcopal seat. It has above all food, textile and remnants of mining industries.

The municipality lies at an altitude of 306 metres (1,004 ft)^[3] and covers an area of 47.22 km² (18.23 sq mi) (2025).^[4]

Archaeological finds show that the region was densely settled by miners as early as around 1200. The first written mention stems from 1291, the royal free town status from 1410. The Roman Catholic diocese of Rozsnyó was founded in 1776.

In the Middle Ages, Rozsnyó was a prosperous mining town for gold, silver, and iron. Mining activities stagnated from the 16th century (when territories to the south of the town were conquered by Ottoman Turks). Mining - this time mainly of iron ore - was renewed around 1800 and was present in the town throughout the 20th century. It was ruled by Ottoman Empire as part of Filek sanjak (Its centre was Rimaszombat) during periods of 1554-1593 and 1596–1686. It was known as "Rojna" during Ottoman period.

The name of the town probably derives from the German word for rose (Rose, in the German name of the town "Rosenau"). Until 1920 it was part of Gömör és Kishont County of the Kingdom of Hungary, and again from 1938 to 1945.

During World War II, Rožňava was captured on 23 January 1945 by troops of the Romanian 4th Army, acting as a part of the Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front.

On 13 September 2003, Rožňava was visited by Pope John Paul II.

• an important Mining Museum
• a completely preserved medieval central town square with burgher houses
• the Cathedral (Gothic, late 13th century) with many precious historic art objects, especially a Renaissance painting of Mestercia showing realistic mining motifs, as well as the body of St. Neith, a catacombs Saint.
• the Town Tower (Renaissance, 1654) in the middle of the central town square
• the Jesuit church (Baroque, 1687)
• the Bishop's residence (Baroque-Classical, arose 1778 from older houses) with a plague column in front of the building
• a town hall (Classical, 1711)
• an Evangelic Lutheran church (Classical, 1786)
• a Reformed church (neo-Gothic, 1905)

It has a population of 16,794 people (31 December 2025).^[8]

In year 2021 was 17,569 people by ethnicity 12,762 as Slovak, 3885 as Hungarian, 1619 as Not found out, 525 as Romani, 91 as Czech, 56 as Rusyn, 49 as Other, 25 as Ukrainian, 24 as German, 11 as Chinese, 10 as Vietnamese, 10 as Russian, 9 as Italian, 8 as Polish, 6 as Jewish, 6 as Turkish, 5 as English, 4 as Greek, 3 as Serbian, 3 as Austrian, 3 as Moravian, 3 as Canadian, 2 as Irish, 2 as Romanian, 2 as Bulgarian, 1 as French, 1 as Croatian and 1 as Albanian.

Note on population: The difference values of population numbers in the table "Population statistic" and in the sections "Ethnicity" & "Religion" is caused by the use of various statistical methods.

In year 2021 was 17,569 people by religion 7494 from None, 5041 from Roman Catholic Church, 1722 from Not found out, 1676 from Evangelical Church, 904 from Calvinist Church, 240 from Greek Catholic Church, 121 from Jehovah's Witnesses, 72 from Apostolic Church, 49 from Ad hoc movements, 41 from Eastern Orthodox Church, 41 from Other, 27 from Other and not ascertained christian church, 27 from Christian Congregations in Slovakia, 27 from Buddhism, 20 from United Methodist Church, 16 from Islam, 13 from Seventh-day Adventist Church, 12 from Paganism and natural spirituality, 11 from Old Catholic Church, 9 from Jewish community, 3 from Hinduism, 2 from Baptists Church and 1 from New Apostolic Church.

• Haviva Reik (1914 – 1944), Jewish resistance fighter
• Vladimir Oravsky (born 1947), writer, director
• Martin Simon (born 1975), composer and guitarist
• Stanislav Stolárik (born 1955), Bishop of Rožňava (since 2015)
• Adam Szentpétery (born 1956), artist.
• Dana Velďáková (born 1981), triple jumper
• Jana Velďáková (born 1981), long jumper
• Henrieta Farkašová (born 1986), gold medal winner at the 2010 Winter Paralympics and at 2014 Sochi Paralympics
• Ladislav Orosz (born 1959), politician and jurist

• Nadabula
• Rožňavská Baňa (Rožňava Mine)

Rožňava is twinned with:^[12]

• Serbia Bačka Topola, Serbia
• Czech Republic Český Těšín, Czech Republic
• Poland Cieszyn, Poland
• Hungary Lipótváros (Budapest), Hungary
• Hungary Szerencs, Hungary
• Romania Baia Sprie, Romania

Notes

• Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Rožňava at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website (in Slovak)
• Rožňava
• Information on Rožňava and the Gemer region
• Information on tourist sights (with photo of the main square)
• Medial information site about life in Rožňava (in Slovak)

• Cities and towns in Slovakia
• Geography of Košice Region
• Gemer (region)
• First Vienna Award
• Municipalities in Slovakia where Hungarian is an official language
• Mining communities in the Slovak Republic

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Pages using the Phonos extension
• CS1 Slovak-language sources (sk)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Articles containing Hungarian-language text
• Articles containing German-language text
• Commons category link from Wikidata
• Articles with Slovak-language sources (sk)