Modrý Kameň
title: "Modrý Kameň" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cities-and-towns-in-slovakia", "villages-and-municipalities-in-veľký-krtíš-district", "castles-in-slovakia"] topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modrý_Kameň" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox Slovak place"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Modrý Kameň |
| other_name | Kékkő |
| settlement_type | Municipality |
| image_skyline | Burgo Modry Kamen 1.jpg |
| image_caption | Modrý Kameň Castle |
| image_flag | Modry kamen-velky krtis-flag.svg |
| image_shield | Coat of arms of Modrý Kameň.png |
| subdivision_type1 | Region |
| subdivision_name1 | Banská Bystrica Region |
| subdivision_type2 | District |
| subdivision_name2 | Veľký Krtíš District |
| pushpin_map | Slovakia Banská Bystrica Region#Slovakia |
| pushpin_relief | 1 |
| pushpin_map_caption | Location of Modrý Kameň in the Banská Bystrica Region##Location of Modrý Kameň in Slovakia |
| coordinates | |
| leader_title | Mayor |
| leader_name | Mária Bednárová |
| established_title | First mentioned |
| established_date | 1290 |
| elevation_footnotes | |
| elevation_m | 250 |
| postal_code_type | Postal code |
| postal_code | 992 01 |
| area_code | +421 47 |
| registration_plate | VK |
| website | |
| :: |
| name = Modrý Kameň | other_name = Kékkő | settlement_type = Municipality | image_skyline = Burgo Modry Kamen 1.jpg | image_caption = Modrý Kameň Castle | image_flag = Modry kamen-velky krtis-flag.svg | image_shield = Coat of arms of Modrý Kameň.png | subdivision_type1 = Region | subdivision_name1 = Banská Bystrica Region | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Veľký Krtíš District | pushpin_map = Slovakia Banská Bystrica Region#Slovakia | pushpin_relief = 1 | pushpin_map_caption = Location of Modrý Kameň in the Banská Bystrica Region##Location of Modrý Kameň in Slovakia | coordinates = | leader_title = Mayor | leader_name = Mária Bednárová | leader_party = | established_title = First mentioned | established_date = 1290 | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = 250 | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = 992 01 | area_code = +421 47 |registration_plate = VK | website =
Modrý Kameň (lit. "Blue Stone"; ; ) is a town and municipality in the Veľký Krtíš District of the Banská Bystrica Region of southern Slovakia.
Geography
It is located on the Krupina Plain () on the Krtíš and Riečka rivers. It is around 5 km from Veľký Krtíš and 50 km from Zvolen.
History
The name of the town was first mentioned as Keykkw in 1290. The name of the settlement means "Blue Rock". Ruins of the castle Modrý Kameň stand on a rock pinnacle above the town. The castle was built in the second half of the 13th century by the ancestors of the Balassa noble family. They had to recapture the castle from the sons of Casimir of the Hont-Pázmány clan by a siege in 1290. The castle was captured by Ottoman troops in 1576, because its guard fled when they heard the approaching Ottomans. The castle was given up and subsequently destroyed by Ottoman troops in 1593. It was restored between 1609 and 1612 by Sigismund Balassa. The castle was ravaged many times during the 17th century, so it became ruined and abandoned. The Balassa family built a new Baroque mansion house on the side of the castle hill in the early 18th century; stones of the former castle were used in the mansion building operations. The last member of the Balassa noble family died in 1899. After the demise of the Balassa family, the Almásy noble family became the proprietors of Modrý Kameň castle. They sold the demesne to the Czechoslovak state in 1923.
In 1910 the settlement had a population of 1,347, consisting mostly of Slovak inhabitants, though a significant Hungarian minority lived in Modrý Kameň as well. Modrý Kameň belonged to Nógrád (Novohrad) county until the end of World War I. The settlement was the center of the Modrý Kameň district (, ) between 1912 and 1960. An electric network was built in 1943.
During World War II, an illegal antifascist communist organization operated in the settlement. During the Slovak National Uprising, Modrý Kameň was the center of the national revolutionary committee of the district, and partisan groups operated on the outskirts.
Modrý Kameň was pronounced a town in 1969.
Population
It has a population of people (31 December ).
Ethnicity
Religion
Sights
- A Roman Catholic church was built in 1879
- A Baroque chapel of St Anna was built in 1759
- Modrý kameň Castle Museum (Marionette and toy museum, Valentine Balassi poet's life and work, Ethnographic exhibition of the region, A look at the history of dental technology and stomatology)
Twin towns – sister cities
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Kekko_17th_century.jpg" caption="Modrý Kameň Castle in the 17th century"] ::
Modrý Kameň is twinned with:
- HUN Bercel, Hungary
Gallery
File:Kekkocivertanlegi.jpg|Aerial photo of the castle File:Modrý Kameň - pohľad z hradu.jpg|View from the castle to the city
References
References
- (2015-04-17). "Základná charakteristika". Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic.
- "Statistical lexikon of municipalities 1970-2011".
- (2021-01-01). "Census 2021 - Population - Basic results". Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic.
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