municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
(village) situated in western
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
, near the spa town of
Piešťany
Piešťany (; german: Pistyan, hu, Pöstyén, pl, Pieszczany , cs, Píšťany ) is a town in Slovakia. It is located in the western part of the country within the Trnava Region and is the seat of its own district. It is the biggest and best kno ...
. It was part of the municipality Moravany nad Váhom from 1976 to 1992. The village lies under the Váh Inovec. According to the 2011
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
, the municipality had 375 inhabitants. 365 of inhabitants were
Slovaks
The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak.
In Slovakia, 4.4 mi ...
and 10 others and unspecified.
Etymology
The name of the village is derived from ''dux-ducis'' meaning
duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
. ''Duka'' was also a borrowed word used by the Slavs for a person with a prominent social status. The village was known as 1348 Duchreuy, 1453 Duczev, 1521 De-chobrod, 1532, 1638 Ducibrod, 1576 Ducybrod, 1636 Duczowa, 1664 Ducó, 1667 Duczo, 1668 Duczove, 1693 Duczowa, 1753 Duczó, 1776 Duczo, 1773 Duczo, Dutzo, Duczowe, 1786 Duczo, Duczowce, 1808 Duczó, Ducow, 1863 -1918 Ducó, 1920 Ducov, Ducové, 1927 Ducové.
Great Moravian Court
Ducové is known for an archaeological site on the ''Kostolec'' hill, where a
Great Moravia
Great Moravia ( la, Regnum Marahensium; el, Μεγάλη Μοραβία, ''Meghálī Moravía''; cz, Velká Morava ; sk, Veľká Morava ; pl, Wielkie Morawy), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavs, Wes ...
n fortified settlement has been unearthed. Excavations of older settlements from the
Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
,
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
and the
Roman era
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
indicate that Ducové benefited from its location on the
Amber Road
The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Prehistoric trade routes between Northern and Southern Europe were defined by the amber trade.
...
well before the Great Moravian era. The Slavic court was founded in the mid-9th century after the fall of the nearby hill fort in
Pobedim
Pobedim ( hu, Pobedény) is a village and municipality in Nové Mesto nad Váhom District in the Trenčín Region of western Slovakia. A Slavic hill fort from the pre-Great Moravian period has been uncovered in the locality Hradištia. The hill for ...
, frequently associated with the unification of principality of Moravia and Nitra. The court was similar to Frankish courts from the 8th-9th centuries and inhabited by representatives of the Slavic elite. It was protected by a massive oak palisade, doubled on one side and built on top of the prehistoric mound. Administrative and representative functions were highlighted by the strategic location near the river ford. Interior space was divided by additional palisades and occupied by residential buildings, outbuildings, a Christian rotunda church and a graveyard. The round rotunda with an
apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
is similar to rotunda found in Staré Město. The court existed until 940-970 when it burned, most likely during the attack of the old Hungarians. The rotunda and the graveyard had been used by neighbouring villages also after the destruction of the residential buildings, the rotunda until the 11-12 century and the graveyard until the 14th.
The site is registered as a National Cultural Landmark. Some parts of the court (such as its
palisade
A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade.
Etymology
''Palisade' ...