• The territory of Turiec lies in The Valley of Turiec surrounded by the mountain ranges of Small and Big Fatra in the west and east, The Hills of Kremnica in the south Ziar Mountain in the south-west. The border, which separates the region from other territories, runs along the parks of the ranges. The River of Turiec flows through the valley.

• The Valley of Turiec belongs to one of the high- situated valleys in Slovakia. Altitude above the sea level moves between 500 to 700 metres in the south up to 400 metres in the north.

• The city of Martin belongs under Zilina municipality country and it is the 8th largest city in Slovakia.

• Altitude: 390 metres above the sea.• The area is 6 744 ha.• Martin has 60 thousand inhabitants.• Unemployment rate: 14% • The City of Martin is placed into the

region, which is called Turiec.• In 1918 Martin became the place

when the free will of Slovaks was declared; they wished to share a state with the Czechs by establishing Czechoslovak republic (lasted till 1993).

• Year 1919 meant development of Martin and its cultural life. Many of painters, sculptors and writers found muse here.

The City of Martin: Coat- of- arms

• Legend: There is a silver horse and silver knight ( St. Martin) on blue shield. He is holding his red coat and golden sword. A silver poor boy kneels in front of him.

• Origin: According to the historians, Martin de Tours was one of the most impressive characters from the period of early Christianity. He was real knight of mercy. The coat-of-arms of the City of Martin shows the story, when Martin- as a Roman officer – helped to shivering and freezing pauper. Martin cut his coat into two halves and one of them passed to the pauper to cover himself and get warm.

• The City of Martin is named after him.

The oldest building in Martin is Romanesque church dedicated to St. Martin de Tours. It comes from the half of the 13th century.

Beautiful original frescos from the 14th century are inside.

Roman-Catholic church

• The first written mention: 1284 – Martin- as-“Villa Sancti Martini“ was mentioned at the document of Hungarian the king Belo IV.

• The 15th century was very busy in the region: there were three strong earthquakes during 10 years and plague.

• The City of Martin took leading role in cultural history of the Slovaks in the 19th century. It became seat of several newspapers and magazines, museums and nation-wide association.

Martin- the second half of the 19th century. Almost eight thousand people lived there hundred years later.

Slovak National Museum Uprising Theatre, square

Andrej Kmet was born in the family ofblacksmith Stefan Kmet and his wife Alzbeta. He studied in Banska Bystricaand Trnava. He was one of the foundersof Slovak Mother. He was the first one to put the first brick and sainted it. He is believed to be a famous polyhistoric. He died on the 16th February 1908 and is buried on the national cemetery.

Museum of Martin Benka

The Museum of Slovak village

Turiec Gallery

The second building of Slovak Mother

The first building of Slovak Mother, museum

The third building of Slovak MotherSlovak National Library

New dominant of the pedestrian zone is the glass Millenium building which gota prize in the National competition as the „Building of 2003“.

...and during the night...

...City park....

View on the first part of our pedestrianzone which consists mainly of historical buildings from the 18th and the 19th century.

The statue in the middle of thesquare

A bank

The Fountain in theChildren park

Martinske hole are one of several winter sport resorts near the city. There are 8 ski-lifts, which provide excellent conditions for cross country, skiing and snow-boarding. These good conditions usually last there from December till Easter. A lot of people spend there their holiday season and there are many hotels of high quality.