Lučenec

Lučenec (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈlutʃeɲets]; German: Lizenz; Hungarian: Losonc; Yiddish: לאשאנץ‎; Latin: Lutetia Hungarorum) is a town in the Banská Bystrica Region of south-central Slovakia. Historically, it was part, and in the 18th century the capital, of Nógrád County of the Kingdom of Hungary. In 1918, as a result of the Treaty of Trianon, it became a part of Czechoslovakia. The town has a large abandoned synagogue, built in 1924, which served a large Jewish population before World War II.

Lučenec is the economic centre of the whole Novohrad region, which includes districts Rimavská Sobota, Poltár and Veľký Krtíš.

History

Lučenec and its surroundings were inhabited in the Stone Ages. Slavs moved to this area in the 6th and 7th century as the first permanent settlers and the Hungarians joined them in the 10th century.

The first indirect mention of Lučenec was in 1128, when Lambert built a chapel in honour of Virgin Mary. The first direct mention of the settlement was in 1247 under the name Luchunch, but until the first half of the 15th century it was only a village, and was located off the main trade routes. In 1442, Lučenec was conquered by the Hussites troops under command of John Jiskra of Brandýs and in 1451 the Battle of Lučenec took place near the village between the troops of John Hunyadi and those of Jiskra, where the latter emerged victorious.