Town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are larger than villages but smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish them vary between different parts of the world; the word town shares an origin with the German word Zaun, the Dutch word tuin, the Old Norse tun. The German word Zaun comes closest to the original meaning of the word: a fence of any material. An early borrowing from Celtic *dunom. In English and Dutch, the meaning of the word took on the sense of the space which these fences enclosed. In England, a town was a small community that could not afford or was not allowed to build walls or other larger fortifications, built a palisade or stockade instead. In the Netherlands, this space was a garden, more those of the wealthy, which had a high fence or a wall around them. In Old Norse tun means a place between farmhouses, the word is still used in a similar meaning in modern Norwegian. In Old English and Early and Middle Scots, the words ton, etc. could refer to diverse kinds of settlements from agricultural estates and holdings picking up the Norse sense at one end of the scale, to fortified municipalities.
If there was any distinction between toun and burgh as claimed by some, it did not last in practice as burghs and touns developed. For example, "Edina Burgh" or "Edinburgh" was built around a fort and came to have a defensive wall. In some cases, "town" is an alternative name for "city" or "village". Sometimes, the word "town" is short for "township". In general, today towns can be differentiated from townships, villages, or hamlets on the basis of their economic character, in that most of a town's population will tend to derive their living from manufacturing industry and public services rather than primary industry such as agriculture or related activities. A place's population size is not a reliable determinant of urban character. In many areas of the world, e.g. in India at least until recent times, a large village might contain several times as many people as a small town. In the United Kingdom, there are historical cities; the modern phenomenon of extensive suburban growth, satellite urban development, migration of city dwellers to villages has further complicated the definition of towns, creating communities urban in their economic and cultural characteristics but lacking other characteristics of urban localities.
Some forms of non-rural settlement, such as temporary mining locations, may be non-rural, but have at best a questionable claim to be called a town. Towns exist as distinct governmental units, with defined borders and some or all of the appurtenances of local government. In the United States these are referred to as "incorporated towns". In other cases the town lacks its own governance and is said to be "unincorporated". Note that the existence of an unincorporated town may be set out by other means, e.g. zoning districts. In the case of some planned communities, the town exists in the form of covenants on the properties within the town; the United States Census identifies many census-designated places by the names of unincorporated towns which lie within them. The distinction between a town and a city depends on the approach: a city may be an administrative entity, granted that designation by law, but in informal usage, the term is used to denote an urban locality of a particular size or importance: whereas a medieval city may have possessed as few as 10,000 inhabitants, today some consider an urban place of fewer than 100,000 as a town though there are many designated cities that are much smaller than that.
Australian geographer Thomas Griffith Taylor proposed a classification of towns based on their age and pattern of land use. He identified five types of town: Infantile towns, with no clear zoning Juvenile towns, which have developed an area of shops Adolescent towns, where factories have started to appear Early mature towns, with a separate area of high-class housing Mature towns, with defined industrial and various types of residential area In Afghanistan and cities are known as shār; as the country is an rural society with few larger settlements, with major cities never holding more than a few hundred thousand inhabitants before the 2000s, the lingual tradition of the country does not discriminate between towns and cities. In Albania "qytezë" means town, similar with the word for city. Although there is no official use of the term for any settlement. In Albanian "qytezë" means "small city" or "new city", while in ancient times "small residential center within the walls of a castle"; the center is a population group, larger than a village, smaller than a city.
Though the village is bigger than a hamlet In Australia, towns or "urban centre localities" are understood to be those centers of population not formally declared to be cities and having a population in excess of about 200 people. Centers too small to be called towns are understood to be a township. In addition, some local government entities are styled as towns in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, before the statewide amalgamations of th
Frýdek-Místek District
Frýdek-Místek District is a district within the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. Its administrative centre is the city of Frýdek-Místek, it was created by a reform of administrative divisions in 1960. Until the reform, it was a part of Český Těšín District; the creation of the Frýdek-Místek District redrew ethnic lines in the region. Český Těšín District covered the exact southern part of Zaolzie area and Poles were proportionately more numerous there than in the newly gerrymandered Frýdek-Místek District, which encompasses the ethnically pure Czech areas west of Zaolzie. List of municipalities of Frýdek-Místek District
Saint Florian
Saint Florian was a Christian holy man, the patron saint of Linz, Austria. His feast day is May 4. St. Florian is the patron of Upper Austria, jointly with Saint Leopold. St. Florian was born around 250 AD in the ancient Roman city of Aelium Cetium, present-day Sankt Pölten, Austria, he joined the Roman Army and advanced in the ranks, rising to commander of the imperial army in the Roman province of Noricum. In addition to his military duties, he was responsible for organizing and leading firefighting brigades. Florian trained an elite group of soldiers whose sole duty was to fight fires. During the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians, reports reached Rome that St. Florian was not enforcing the proscriptions against Christians in his territory. Aquilinus was sent to investigate these reports; when Aquilinus ordered Florian to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods in accordance with Roman religion, Florian refused. Florian was sentenced to be burned at the stake. Standing on the funeral pyre, Florian is reputed to have challenged the Roman soldiers to light the fire, saying "If you wish to know that I am not afraid of your torture, light the fire, in the name of the Lord I will climbe onto it."
Apprehensive of his words, the soldiers did not burn Florian, but executed him by drowning him in the Enns River with a millstone tied around his neck. His body was retrieved by Christians and buried at an Augustinian monastery near Lorch. A woman named Valeria had a vision in which she saw him. Saint Florian is widely venerated in Central Europe; the Austrian town of Sankt Florian is named after him. According to legend, his body was interred at St. Florian's Priory, his body and was removed to the Augustinian Abbey of St. Florian, near Linz, Austria. Saint Florian was adopted as patron saint of Poland in 1184, when Pope Lucius III consented to the request of Prince Casimir II to send relics of Florian to that country. Kraków thus claims some of his relics. A statue of Florian by Josef Josephu was unveiled in Vienna in 1935, it stood in the city's main square, Am Hof. After the firehouse was bombed in 1945 during World War II the statue was moved on to the Fire Brigade Museum. Seeking the sponsorship of a helpful saint was and still is a part of the namegiving practice in Catholic areas.
In the southern, Catholic parts of the German Empire, peasants have used the name, Florian, as one of the given names for at least one of their male children: to secure the saints patronage against fire. Hence the given name is still widespread in these areas. In Austria and Germany, fire services use Florian in radio communications as universal call sign for fire stations and fire trucks; the call sign Florentine for firefighting-related, hand held radio equipment is derived, somewhat inaccurately, from that usage. St. Florian is the patron of Austria, he is invoked against fires, floods and the pains of purgatory. The St. Florian's Cross is a used symbol of firefighting in the United States; the St. Florian's Cross is sometimes confused with the Maltese Cross; the Maltese Cross is a sharp eight-pointed cross, whereas the St. Florian's has rounded arcs between the four points; the use of St. Florian's symbol derives from the traditional belief that the saint himself was involved in firefighting.
The "Florian Principle" is named after a somewhat ironic prayer to Saint Florian: "O heiliger Sankt Florian, verschon' mein Haus, zünd' and're an", equivalent to "O Holy St. Florian, please spare my house, set fire to another one"; this saying is used in German much like the English "not in my back yard", when the speaker wants to point out that some person tries to get out of an unpleasant situation by an action that will put others in that same situation. The name Florian is considered synonymous with fireman in the German speaking world. In some cases call for a fireman will be spoken as calls for Florian. Alfred Schnittke's Symphony No. 2, is subtitled "St. Florian". St. Florian's Church in Kraków, the resting place of St. Florian's relics Catholic Online article The Cult of St. Florian St. Florian's Abbey in Austria Saint Florian the patron saint of the fire service Saints of Suds Maltese Cross symbols on historic firefighting objects, Staten Island Historical Society Online Collections Database Saint Florian at the Christian Iconography web site
Radegast (beer)
Radegast is a Czech beer brewed in Nošovice, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic since 1970. The beer is named after the slavic god Radegast. Stemming from the name for the beer is the slogan: "Život je hořký: Bohudík", a Czech phrase which translates into English as "Life is bitter: Thank God"; the brewery is owned by Pilsner Urquell. Radegast is the most popular beer in Moravia; the company brews these different types of beer: Radegast Rázná 10 – a pale draught beer with 4.1% ABV. Radegast Ryze hořká 12 – a pale bitter lager with 5.1% ABV. Radegast Gloomy Bitter – a semi-dark bitter lager with 5.2% ABV. Radegast Unfiltered – an unfiltered, unpasteurized yeast pale lager with 5.1% ABV. Radegast Extra Bitter – an extra bitter special edition beer with 6.5% ABV. Additionally, Radegast brewery produces since 1992 a non-alcoholic beer under the Birell brand. Birell – a pale non-alcoholic beer Birell Polotmavý – a semi-dark non-alcoholic beer Birell Green Barley – a flavored pale non-alcoholic beer Beer in the Czech Republic Radegast company pages Radegast Birell official pages
Petr Bezruč
Petr Bezruč was the pseudonym of Vladimír Vašek, a Czech poet and short story writer, associated with the region of Austrian Silesia. Bezruč was died in Olomouc. During his lifetime his fame was such. Today this building is managed by the Silesian Museum in Opava; the museum contains the documents belonging to 85 important people of literature. This makes its contants to be of national importance; the building is not the birthplace as the actual building was destroyed during World War Two. This building was built on the site of his birth after a campaign starting in 1946 and finishing in 1956. In 1958 it was decided; the museum owns the copyright to his works in line with his instructions. Poetry Slezské písně - one of the fundamental books of Czech poetry Stužkonoska modrá Přátelům a nepřátelům Prose Povídky ze života - short stories List of Czech writers
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic known by its short-form name, Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres with a temperate continental climate and oceanic climate, it is a unitary parliamentary republic, with 10.6 million inhabitants. Other major cities are Brno, Ostrava and Pilsen; the Czech Republic is a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the United Nations, the OSCE, the Council of Europe. It is a developed country with an advanced, high income export-oriented social market economy based in services and innovation; the UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development. The Czech Republic is a welfare state with a "continental" European social model, a universal health care system, tuition-free university education and is ranked 14th in the Human Capital Index, it ranks as the 6th safest or most peaceful country and is one of the most non-religious countries in the world, while achieving strong performance in democratic governance.
The Czech Republic includes the historical territories of Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire. After the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as an Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire along with the Kingdom of Germany, the Kingdom of Burgundy, the Kingdom of Italy, numerous other territories, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Beside Bohemia itself, the King of Bohemia ruled the lands of the Bohemian Crown, holding a vote in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor. In the Hussite Wars of the 15th century driven by the Protestant Bohemian Reformation, the kingdom faced economic embargoes and defeated five consecutive crusades proclaimed by the leaders of the Catholic Church. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary.
The Protestant Bohemian Revolt against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years' War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, eradicated Protestantism and reimposed Catholicism, adopted a policy of gradual Germanization; this contributed to the anti-Habsburg sentiment. A long history of resentment of the Catholic Church followed and still continues. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Bohemian Kingdom became part of the German Confederation 1815-1866 as part of Austrian Empire and the Czech language experienced a revival as a consequence of widespread romantic nationalism. In the 19th century, the Czech lands became the industrial powerhouse of the monarchy and were subsequently the core of the Republic of Czechoslovakia, formed in 1918 following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I. Czechoslovakia remained the only democracy in this part of Europe in the interwar period. However, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, while the Slovak region became the Slovak Republic.
Most of the three millions of the German-speaking minority were expelled following the war. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections and after the 1948 coup d'état, Czechoslovakia became a one-party communist state under Soviet influence. In 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed and market economy was reintroduced. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia; the Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the EU in 2004. The traditional English name "Bohemia" derives from Latin "Boiohaemum", which means "home of the Boii"; the current English name comes from the Polish ethnonym associated with the area, which comes from the Czech word Čech. The name comes from the Slavic tribe and, according to legend, their leader Čech, who brought them to Bohemia, to settle on Říp Mountain.
The etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning "member of the people. The country has been traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the east, Czech Silesia in the northeast. Known as the lands of the Bohemian Crown since the 14th century, a number of other names for the country have been used, including Czech/Bohemian lands, Bohemian Crown and the lands of the Crown of Saint Wenceslas; when the country regained its independence after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918, the new name of Czechoslovakia was coined to reflect the union of the Czech and Slovak nations within the one country. After Czechoslovakia dissolved in 1992, the Czech part lac
Gradačac
Gradačac is a city located in Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the northeastern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina 40 km south of the Sava river; as of 2013, it has a population of 41,836 inhabitants. The city is well known for its castle. • Avramovina • Biberovo Polje • Blaževac • Cetnica • Donja Međiđa • Donja Tramošnica • Donje Krečane • Donje Ledenice • Donji Lukavac • Donji Skugrić • Gornja Međiđa • Gornja Tramošnica • Gornje Krečane • Gornje Ledenice • Gornji Lukavac • Gradačac • Hrgovi Donji • Jasenica • Jelovče Selo • Kerep • Krčevljani • Mionica • Njivak • Orlovo Polje • Škorići • Pelagićevo • Porebrice • Rajska • Samarevac • Sibovac • Srnice Donje • Srnice Gornje • Tolisa • Turić • Vida • Vučkovci • Zelinja Donja • Zelinja Gornja i Zelinja Srednja. 48,384 total Bosniaks – 26,905 Serbs – 12,455 Croats – 8,447 Yugoslavs – 321 others – 256 In the census of 1991, the municipality of Gradačac had 56,378 residents of which there were: 60.2% Bosniaks 19.8% Serbs 15.1% Croats 4.9% others Page text.
The župa of Gradačac was first mentioned in 1302, while the town's first written mention dates from 1465. The town became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1512, its nahija was first recorded in the defter of 1533, while its kadiluk was recorded in 1634. In 1701 the settlement was given the status of a palanka, it became the headquarters of a military captaincy in 1710; the captains of the Gradaščević family led the development of the city, the most famous of them, Husein-kapetan Gradaščević or Zmaj od Bosne, led an uprising that raised to arms most of the Bosnian captains in 1831. The town has a fort with 18-meter high walls built between 1765 and 1821, a 22-meter high watchtower, built in 1824 by Husein-kapetan Gradaščević on foundations made by the Romans. Husejnija Mosque was built in 1826. From 1929 to 1939, Gradačac was part of the Vrbas Banovina and from 1939 to 1941 of the Banovina of Croatia within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, it was bombed during the Bosnian war 1992–1995. It is located at the narrow northern corridor that connects two major portions of the Bosnian Serb entity Republika Srpska, near Brčko.
Gradačac became part of the Tuzla Canton in the Federation of Herzegovina after the war. The first spa facility, Ilidža Spa Treatment Centre was built on the thermal springs in Gradačac in 1882; the water temperature is 29.30˚C found at depth of 286 meters. In the area nearby are two lakes Hazna and Vidara. Both lakes were built as part of project for protecting city from floods who took final stoke in 1964. and 1967. When cities industrial part was underwater due to extensive floods; the most important industries in Gradačac are textile, chemical and food processing. Gradačac is the place. In August 2015. 42. Traditional international plum fair "Sajam šljive" was held, it was attended by 250 presenters from Bosnia&Herzegovina, Serbia, Germany and Hungary. One of the more notable local firms is "Kula", founded in 1960 as a small local factory producing clothing. Today Kula is modern and respective company in Eastern Europe with 700 employees and annual production of 300.000 pieces. Kula visits fashion fairs in Europe.
Kula's models were seen in fashion fairs in Leipzig, Düsseldorf and Brno. In the municipality there are 7 elementary and 14 regional schools. NK Zvijezda Gradačac Ivona Brandić, computer scientist Dario Damjanović, footballer Stevan Dedijer, academic Husein Gradaščević, nobleman Ahmed Muradbegović, writer Julijana Matanović, writer Mustafa Imamović, historian Hasan Kikic, poet Stjepan Šiber, general Ana Šimić, high jumper Safet Hodžić, industrialist Gradačac is twinned with: Sivas, Turkey Gradačac Castle Gradacac.com Official Site gradacac.net Gradačački Info Portal
Czech Republic
Bielsko-Biała, Poland[2]
Žilina, Slovakia
Ames, Iowa, United States
Gradačac, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Nikaia, Attica, Greece
Uryupinsk, Russia
