Spišská Belá

Spišská Belá (Zipser Bela; Szepesbéla; Спіська Бела; Biała Spiska) is a town in the Kežmarok District in the Prešov Region in Spiš in northern Slovakia. Prior to World War I, it was in Szepes county in the Kingdom of Hungary.

History
The town was first mentioned in historical records in 1263. The town received town rights in 1271. Scientist and inventor Joseph Petzval was born here in 1807. The town center has been designated an historic district. The church in the center of the square was built in the 15th century. The tower next to the church was dedicated to when to town received town rights back in 1271.

In 1910 the town had 2,894 inhabitants, half of them were Slovaks and the other half Germans. The town was mainly Catholic but also had a significant Lutheran minority. It was part of the German language island of the Oberzips. Before the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, Spišská Belá was part of Szepes County within the Kingdom of Hungary. From 1939 to 1945, it was part of the Slovak Republic. On 27 January 1945, the Red Army dislodged the Wehrmacht from Spišská Belá in the course of the Western Carpathian offensive and it was once again part of Czechoslovakia. After the end of World War II the German population was expelled according to the Beneš decrees.

Geography
The town and municipality lies at an altitude of 631 metres and covers an area of 33.94 km². It has a population of about 6,189 people.

Demographics
According to the 2001 census, the town had 6,136 inhabitants. 94.82% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 3.18% Roma, 0.31% Czechs and 0.26% Germans. The religious makeup was 85.46% Roman Catholics, 4.61% people with no religious affiliation, 3.49% Lutherans and 1.22% Greek Catholics.

Famous people

 * Joseph Petzval, scientist and inventor

Twin towns — sister cities
Spišská Belá is twinned with:
 * 🇨🇿 Vysoké Mýto, Czech Republic
 * 🇩🇪 Brück, Germany
 * 🇵🇱 Ożarów, Poland
 * 🇵🇱 Szczawnica, Poland