The administrative and economic centre of Malohont and the former County Gemer-Malohont and later of the district the town of RIMAVSKÁ SOBOTA.

Mesto RIMAVSKÁ SOBOTA (population 24,800) is situated on the fertile alluvial plain of the Rimava river in the south of central Slovakia. Today it is the economic centre of the Slovak-Hungarian boundary with several plants dedicated to food production.

HISTORY

Villa Stefani was the primeval settlement, which originally existed here in the half of the 11th century. Markets were held here every Saturdayand this was why the name Sobota (Saturday) caught on. This name, written as Rymoa Zumbota was first mentioned in the document from 1270.

The town preserved its traditions in crafts and trades over the history. Rimavská Sobota was the centre of education in the past, which was greatly influenced by its prevailingly Protestant population.

MONUMENTS

The dominant of its Hlavné námestie, the main square, now wonderfully reconstructed, is the Classicist Roman Catholic church of St. John the Baptist built in the years 1774-1790.

The Gemersko-malohontské múzeum (The Museum of Gemer and Malohont) seats in the former military barracks and it contains precious collections of artefacts of natural history, ethnology, archeology and arts of the region. One of its exhibits is the Egyptian female mummy. The mummy of woman is one of the five Slovakia possesses.

RECOMMENDED TRIP

Kurinec is one of the favourite destinations of the tourists as it is the recreation area on the shore of the water reservoir situated south of the town.

Source: Vydavateľstvo Dajama