Urpín
Encyclopedia
Banská Bystrica
Banská Bystrica is a key city in central Slovakia located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mountains. With 81,281 inhabitants, Banská Bystrica is the sixth most populous municipality in Slovakia...
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
. It is situated on the left bank of the Hron
Hron
Hron is a 298 km long left tributary of the Danube and the second longest river in Slovakia. It flows from its source located in the Low Tatra mountains through central and southern Slovakia, pouring into the Danube near Štúrovo and Esztergom...
river, above the old town. Despite its low elevation of 510 m AMSL (1,673 ft), Urpín dominates the cityscape due to its proximity to the city center. The mountain offers a panoramic view of the Hron basin from the easternmost outskirts of Banská Bystrica to the town of Zvolen
Zvolen
Zvolen |Slatina]] rivers, close to Banská Bystrica. With its ancient castle, the town has a historical center, which represents the seat of an okres .-History:...
, as well as of the surrounding mountain ranges of the Low Tatras and the Veľká Fatra. It is accessible by several hiking trails from the center of Banská Bystrica. Historical monuments located on Urpín chart the turbulent history of the city built underneath this mountain. However, in defiance of its urban environs, the largely forested mountain is characterized by the surprisingly diverse fauna and flora.
Nature
Urpín is mostly covered by a beechBeech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
forest. Other widespread trees are the pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
, maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
, and tilia
Tilia
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The greatest species diversity is found in Asia, and the genus also occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but not western North America...
. The top of the mountain has a typical forest steppe
Forest steppe
A forest steppe is a temperate-climate ecotone and habitat type composed of grassland interspersed with areas of woodland or forest.-Locations:...
vegetation. Despite its proximity to a major city, Urpín contains 35 endangered animal species and many rare plant species. It is also home to 280 species of spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s. An alley of 64 Tilia platyphyllos
Tilia platyphyllos
Tilia platyphyllos is a deciduous tree native to much of Europe, including locally in southwestern Great Britain, growing on lime-rich soils. The common name Large-leaved Linden is in standard use throughout the English-speaking world except in Britain, where it has largely been replaced by the...
trees was planted in the 18th century, but the aged trees are now an important part of the ecosystem. A nature preserve founded in 1997 covers an area of 5.02 ha
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
of Urpín.
History
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
's advance northwards
Ottoman wars in Europe
The wars of the Ottoman Empire in Europe are also sometimes referred to as the Ottoman Wars or as Turkish Wars, particularly in older, European texts.- Rise :...
in the 16th century threatened rich mining towns in central Slovakia. Banská Bystrica, a European leading producer of copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, responded to a new danger by modernizing its fortification. As part of its early warning system, the city built a watchtower
Watchtower
A watchtower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military, and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to provide a high, safe place from which a sentinel or guard may...
on one of Urpín's summits in 1587. The Slovak
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
archaic word for a watchtower (vartovka) gave the name also to the summit itself. The watchtower was connected to the city by a secret underground passage, passing under the river of Hron. After it was damaged during the World War II, the tower was converted into an astronomical observatory
Observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
.
Another historical monument on Urpín is the Calvary . Although Banská Bystrica was in the 17th century part of an empire ruled by a Catholic dynasty of the Habsburgs, the city itself was almost purely Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
. During the state-sponsored Counter-reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
, the Order of Jesuits
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
arrived to Banská Bystrica in 1648. In 1689 the Jesuits founded a pilgrimage site on Urpín. A church was built on the top in 1713 and small shrines representing the Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...
were raised along the trail leading to the church in 1714. The interior of the church featured a flag decorated with 1.21 kg
Kilogram
The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...
of silver. Although the church is now abandoned, it is going to be reconstructed in 2008. The Diocese of Banská Bystrica also plans to revive the area by building a small monastery in the vicinity of the old church.
Urpín has been a popular place of recreation. The trails leading to the top used to be equipped with nightlights. Until the 1960s, dixieland
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
bands played music on Urpín every Sunday afternoon, attracting dancers and partygoers from the city beneath the mountain.
As a natural dominant of Banská Bystrica, the mountain has also given its name to some of the city's companies and organizations, such as the Urpiner Beer, Hotel Urpín, and the Urpín folklore ensemble.