Spisska Nova Ves is the cultural, administrative and business center of the Spiš region. The town arose on the West-East Trade Route from the villages of Iglov and of Villa Nova. The first written reference to the town is from the year 1268.
The town was a member of the Spiš Sasi Community and it was for 360 years in a pledge by the Polish King. It was the seat of the province of the 16 Spiš Towns and an important industrial and business center as well as the center of crafts (esp. church bells were produced here), the mining and metallurgical industry. In the town, there is a Roman-Catholic church from the middle of the 14-th century, which is the highest in Slovakia or even in the Central Europe (87m); an Evangelic church from the late 18-th century and a new Greek-Catholic church. Spišská Nová Ves has the longest lens-shaped center in the Central Europe.
You can find there old houses of the higher and the middle class, a Town Hall built in the Classicist style (the seat of the town magistrate), a building of Reduta from the late 19-th century built in the Art-Nouveau style (nowadays the seat of the Spiš Theater) and a Province House from the 1763 which is a Natural Museum today.