Spišská Nová Ves ((Zipser) Neu(en)dorf; Igló; Romany Noveysis) is a city in the Košice Region of Slovakia. The city is located southeast of the High Tatras in the Spiš region, and lies on both banks of the Hornád River. It is the biggest city of the Spišská Nová Ves District (okres). As of 2004 the population was 38,747.

Tourist attractions nearby include the mediaeval town of Levoča, Spiš Castle and the Slovak Paradise National Park. A biennial music festival, Divertimento musicale, is held here, attracting amateur music ensembles from all over Slovakia.

History

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Settlement in the city's region dates to the Neolithic age. There is evidence of a prosperous society that was familiar with copper mining and processing. When the Celts arrived they brought with them advanced iron technology. Celtic coins have been found in the region. During the 6th century, the period known as the Great Migration, Slavic tribes appeared in the Spiš region. During the 10th century the structure of their settlements stabilized and important communication roads were established. The settlement was included within the state of Great Moravia. By the 12th century at the latest a Slovak settlement had been established known as Iglov, situated between Mlynská street (Mill Street) and the Reduta, in the centre of the present town. The settlement suffered greatly from the invading Tartars in the 13th century. Saxon (Carpathian German) colonists were settled here in the 13th century and their settlement became known as "Villa Nova” ("New Town" in Latin) or "Neudorf" ("New Town" in German), covering the area of the present town. Iglov and Neudorf were amalgamated into one town in the second half of the 13th century.

The town received market rights in the 14th century and grew to become an important market town. It became an official mining town in 1380 and had the largest street market in Slovakia. Copper mining was an important activity. The metal was processed in furnaces, which were fuelled with wood from the surrounding forests. A Gothic bell foundry was established by Konrád Gaal who made a large hanging bell for Louis I of Hungary, and was consequently knighted in 1357. The bells made by Konrád Gaal are still hanging and form an important conlegacy of European Gothic metal foundry.

In 1412 Spišská Nová Ves, along with several other Spiš towns, was pawned as loan security by the Hungarian king Sigmund to the Polish king Vladislaus II Jagiełło. This pledge lasted for 360 years.

Blacksmiths were the first local craftsmen to unite into a guild, which was given royal privileges in 1436. They smelted their own ore, or built water-driven forges along the rivers Hornád and Dubnica. Coppersmiths made kettles of a specifically defined weight because kettles were widely used as a means of payment. There were charcoal burners and even resin pickers who collected resin from trees to produce tar for greasing wagons. There were wheelwrights, coopers, weavers, joiners, gunsmiths, basket-makers, bakers, furriers, tanners, cooks and millers, hunters, fishermen and beekeepers.

There were many Germans living in Spiš...