Trnava (, german: Tyrnau; hu, Nagyszombat, also known by other

alternative names Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

) is a city 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 ...

, to the northeast of

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% o ...

, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a ''

kraj A kraj ( ''kraje'') is the highest-level administrative unit in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. For lack of other English expressions, the Slavic term is often translated as "province", "region", or "territory", although it approxim ...

'' (

Trnava Region The Trnava Region ( sk, Trnavský kraj, ; hu, Nagyszombati kerület; german: Tyrnauer Landschaftsverband) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. It was established in 1996, before which date most of its districts were parts of Brati ...

) and of an ''

okres Okres (Czech and Slovak term meaning "district" in English; from German Kreis - circle (or perimeter)) refers to administrative entities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is similar to Landkreis in Germany or "''okrug''" in other Slavic-speaki ...

'' (

Trnava District Trnava District ( sk, okres Trnava) is a district in the Trnava Region of western Slovakia. In its present borders the district was established in 1996. Before that date Hlohovec district was a part of it. It comprises the villages around the ...

). It is the seat of a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

archbishopric (1541–1820 and then again since 1977). The city has a historic center. Because of the many churches within its city walls, Trnava has often been called "Little

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

" ( sk, Malý Rím, la, parva Roma), or more recently, the "Slovak Rome".

Names and etymology

The name of the city is derived from the name of the creek Trnava. It comes from the Old Slavic/Slovak word ''tŕň'' ("thornbush")Martin Štefánik – Ján Lukačka et al. 2010, Lexikón stredovekých miest na Slovensku, Historický ústav SAV, Bratislava, 2010, p. 523, . http://forumhistoriae.sk/-/lexikon-stredovekych-miest-na-slovensku which characterized the river banks in the region. Many towns in Central Europe have a similar etymology including Trnovo in Slovakia as well as

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Tarn� ...

(Poland), Tarnow (Germany),

Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...

(Bulgaria), Trnavac (Serbia), and

Tyrnavos Tyrnavos ( el, Τύρναβος) is a municipality in the Larissa regional unit, of the Thessaly region of Greece. It is the second-largest town of the Larissa regional unit, after Larissa. The town is near the mountains and the Thessalian Plai ...

(Greece) among others. In Hungarian, the original name had gradually evolved into ''Tyrna'' which influenced also later German and Latin forms. When it developed into an important market town, it received the Hungarian name of ''Nagyszombat'' (''Sumbot'' 1211) referring to the weekly market fairs held on Saturdays ( hu, szombat). However, this name was only used by the royal chamber, as is indicated by the adoption of the Slovak name rather than the Hungarian name by German newcomers after the

Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire (1206-1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastation ...

. The varieties of the name in different languages include german: Tyrnau; hu, Nagyszombat (from the 14th century onward) and la, Tyrnavia.

History

Slovakia - Trnava - Trojicne namestie a mestska veza RB01

Permanent settlements on the city's territory are known from the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...

period onwards.

Middle Ages

During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, an important market settlement arose here at the junction of two important roads – from Bohemia to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

and from the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

to Poland. The first written reference to Trnava dates from 1211. In 1238, Trnava was the first town in (present-day) Slovakia to be granted a town charter (civic privileges) by the king. The former agricultural center gradually became a center of manufacture, trade, and crafts. By the early 13th century, the

king of Hungary The King of Hungary ( hu, magyar király) was the ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Apostoli Magyar Király'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 17 ...

had invited numerous

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

to settle in Trnava; this settlement increased after the

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

invasion in 1242. At the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, a part of Trnava was enclosed by very long city walls. The original Slovak market settlement and the Germans stayed behind this wall. Trnava was also the place of many important negotiations: Charles I, the king of Hungary, signed here a currency agreement with the Czech King

John of Luxemburg John the Blind or John of Luxembourg ( lb, Jang de Blannen; german: link=no, Johann der Blinde; cz, Jan Lucemburský; 10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346), was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of ...

in 1327, and King Louis I (who often stayed in the town and died there in 1380) signed a friendship agreement with Emperor Charles IV there in 1360.

Hussites and Slovak majority

The temporary German majority in Trnava's population yielded in favour of the Slovaks during the campaigns undertaken by the Czech

Hussites The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hu ...

in the 15th century. In April 1430, the Hussites penetrated close to the town and defeated the Hungarian army in the Battle of Trnava. However, they suffered heavy losses and withdrew to

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. Th ...

. On 24 Jun 1432 a small group of Hussites masked as tradesmen entered the town, overcame the guards in the night and captured the town without a fight. Then, they made Trnava the center of their campaigns in northwestern

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephe ...

from 1432 to 1435.

16th-18th centuries

The town, along with the rest of the territory of present-day

, gained importance after the conquest of most of what is today

by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in 1541, when Trnava became the see (1541–1820) of the Archbishopric of Esztergom (before 1541 and after 1820 the see was the town of Esztergom, which was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1543). The cathedrals of the archbishopric were the Saint John the Baptist Cathedral and the

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day De ...

Cathedral in the town. Many ethnic Hungarians fleeing from the Turks moved to the town after 1541 from present-day Hungary, which remained under Ottoman rule until 1699. In the 16th and especially the 17th century, Trnava was an important center of the Counter-Reformation in the

(at the time largely identical with the territory of present-day Slovakia and a strip of western Hungary). The Archbishop Nicolas Oláh invited the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

to Trnava in 1561 in order to develop the municipal school system. Subsequently, he had a seminary opened in 1566 and in 1577 Trnava's priest

Nicolas Telegdi Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–17 ...

founded a book-printing house in the town. The first Catholic Bible translation into Hungarian (based on the Latin

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus&nbs ...

) was also completed in the town by the Jesuit György Káldi who was born there in 1573. The 17th century was also characterized by many anti- Habsburg uprisings in the country – these revolts of Stephen Bocskay,

Gabriel Bethlen Gabriel Bethlen ( hu, Bethlen Gábor; 15 November 1580 – 15 November 1629) was Prince of Transylvania from 1613 to 1629 and Duke of Opole from 1622 to 1625. He was also King-elect of Hungary from 1620 to 1621, but he never took control of ...

, George I Rákóczi, and Imre Thököly negatively affected Trnava's life. On 26 December 1704 Francis II Rákóczi's army suffered a decisive defeat against the Imperial Army, led by Sigbert Heister, near Trnava. The Jesuit Trnava University (1635–1777), the only university of the Kingdom of Hungary at that time, was founded by Archbishop Péter Pázmány. Founded to support the Counter-Reformation, Trnava University soon became a center of Slovak education and literature, since most of the teachers, one half of the students and the majority of the town's inhabitants were Slovaks. Pázmány himself was instrumental in promoting the usage of Slovak instead of Czech and had his work "''Isteni igazságra vezető kalauz''" (Guide to the Truth of God) and several of his sermons translated into Slovak. From the late 18th century Trnava became a center of the literary and artistic Slovak National Revival. The first standard codification of Slovak (by the

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

Anton Bernolák in 1787) was based on the Slovak dialect used in the region of Trnava.

19th century to Great War

During the

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 or fully Hungarian Civic Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. Although t ...

Richard Guyon's army fought here with an Austrian army on 14 December, in 1848. The importance of the town decreased in the early 19th century, when the university was moved to

Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...

(today:

Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University ( hu, Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, ELTE) is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in Hung ...

) and the see of the archbishopric moved back to Esztergom. It increased however partly again after 1844, when Trnava was connected with

through the first railway line in the Kingdom of Hungary, which was a horse railway (steam engines were used since 1872). The railway connection launched a modernization of the town, which started with the erection of a big sugar factory, a malt-house and of the Coburgh's factory (later referred to as ''Trnavské automobilové závody'', i.e. "Trnava Car Factory"). The (''Spolok sv. Vojtecha''), founded in 1870 when the Slovak foundation ( Matica slovenská) was prohibited by the Hungarian authorities, kept up the Slovak national conscience at a time of strong

Magyarisation Magyarization ( , also ''Hungarization'', ''Hungarianization''; hu, magyarosítás), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in Austro-Hungarian Transleitha ...

in Hungary. In the 19th but mainly in the early 20th century the town grew behind its city walls and a part of the wall was demolished in the 19th century, but most of it is still well-preserved.

Jewish history

Jews arrived into the area in the 11th century. A presence in Trnava is documented from the 14th century. In 1494, 14 Jews were brought to

death by burning Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment ...

following a

blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mu ...

. An 1503 account of the 1494 ritual murder trial introduces for the first time in history the notion that Jews as a collectivity were of feminine gender and had monthly bleedings, a

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defi ...

which would become part of the repertoire of Christian

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

from then on. After another blood libel, the Jews were expelled from the city in 1539 and only in 1783 were Jews allowed to return to the city. Until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Trnava was home to a sizable Jewish minority. During the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, 82% of the Jews were sent to

extermination camps Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The ...

in 1942.

After 1918

After the creation of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in 1918, Trnava was one of the most industrialized cities of the country. During

, Trnava was occupied on 1 April 1945 by troops of the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

2nd Ukrainian Front. In 1977, by a decision of

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

, Trnava became the see of a separate Slovak archbishopric (although the seat moved to Bratislava in 2008, the city still remains a seat of its own archbishopric). With the establishment of this archbishopric, Slovakia became independent of Hungary again also in terms of church administration for the first time in centuries. After the establishment of Slovakia (1993), Trnava became the capital of the newly created

in 1996. The French car manufacturer

PSA Peugeot Citroën The PSA Group (), legally known as Peugeot S.A. (Peugeot Société Anonyme, trading as Groupe PSA; formerly known as PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) was a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive ma ...

began construction of a large automobile plant in Trnava in 2003.

Geography

Trnava lies at an altitude of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. The ...

and covers an area of . It is located in the

Danubian Lowland ::''The Serbian lowland is treated under Danube Plain (Serbia)'' The Danubian Lowland or Danube Lowland () is the name of the part of Little Alföld (Slovak: ''Malá dunajská kotlina'') situated in Slovakia, located between the Danube, the Litt ...

on the Trnávka river, around north-east of

, west of

Nitra Nitra (; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra (river), Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of about ...

and around from the Czech border. The closest mountain ranges are the Little Carpathians to the west and the Považský Inovec to the north-east of the city.

Climate

Trnava lies in the north temperate zone and has a

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing so ...

with four distinct seasons. It is characterized by a significant variation between hot summers and cold winters.

Main sights

Slovakia - Trnava - Trnavska Univerzita RB05

Slovakia - Trnava - Parčík Bela IV - RB02

As early as in the

, Trnava was an important centre of Gothic religious and lay architecture – St. Nicolas's Church, St. Helen's Church and several church monastery complexes ( Clarist,

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

and Dominican) were built in this period. The

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

(16th century) added a town tower to Trnava's silhouette. Nicolas Oláh ordered the erection of the Seminary and Archbishop's Palace. Péter Bornemisza and , the leading personalities of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

in the Kingdom of Hungary, were active in Trnava for a short time. The town ramparts were rebuilt to a Renaissance fortification as a reaction to the approaching Turkish danger from the south. The 17th century was characterized by the construction of the Paulinian Church that bears badges of Silesian Renaissance. Trnava was gradually redesigned to Baroque. The erection of the St. John the Baptist Church and of the university campus launched a building rush that continued with the reconstruction of the Franciscan and Clarist's complexes. Builders and artists called to build the university also participated in improvements of the burgher architecture. The Holy Trinity Statue and the group of statues of St. Joseph, the Ursulinian and Trinitarian Church and Monastery are of recent construction. The District hospital was built 1824. The building of the theatre started in May 1831 and the first performance was played at Christmas. Both of the Trnava synagogues, historical structures with oriental motifs, date back to the 19th century. The Synagogue Status Quo Ante currently houses the Jána Koniareka art gallery.

Culture and sights

Museums

* Galéria Jána Koniarka (Ján Koniarek Gallery) * West-Slovak Museum

Controversies

Renovated in 2010, the 19th-century Orthodox Synagogue which was falling into disrepair, was turned into a chic, modern cafe name
Synagoga Cafe
in 2016. Critics view the business as an example of exploitative cultural appropriation in the wake of the Holocaust, where the former occupants were sent to concentration camps. Whereas, advocates argue that it reflects respect and nostalgia for Jews in addition to providing a vehicle for at least some preservation of the heritage site.

Demographics

Historic

The rise of Trnava is closely related to the "Latin Guests", newcomers speaking a

Romance language The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fa ...

, probably arriving from present-day

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

(

Walloons Walloons (; french: Wallons ; wa, Walons) are a Gallo-Romance ethnic group living native to Wallonia and the immediate adjacent regions of France. Walloons primarily speak '' langues d'oïl'' such as Belgian French, Picard and Walloon. Wal ...

).Martin Štefánik – Ján Lukačka et al. 2010, p. 532-534 In 1238, the expansion of the town was supported by the decree about a free movement to Trnava. In the Middle Ages, "German Guests" played a main role in the social composition of the town and they dominated also in trade and town administration. The decline of the German population and a permanent change of the ethnic composition dates back to the occupation of the town by the

Hussite The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hus ...

army (1432-1435). Nevertheless, the continuity of the original Slovak population was not interrupted and the Slovaks have intensively tried to achieve representation in the town council. Repeated conflicts between Germans and Slovaks were resolved in 1486 by the king

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several mi ...

. In this time, the dominant language in the town was already Slovak. The medieval Hungarian population was represented only by several families, but more Hungarians settled in town after the

Battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; hu, mohácsi csata, tr, Mohaç Muharebesi or Mohaç Savaşı) was fought on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, Kingdom of Hungary, between the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary and its allies, led by Louis II, and thos ...

of 1526 and the subsequent dissolution of the Hungarian kingdom which was split into three parts. The ethnic new tensions had to be again resolved by the king. The Hungarians were made equal to the Slovaks and the Germans by

Ferdinand I Ferdinand I or Fernando I may refer to: People * Ferdinand I of León, ''the Great'' (ca. 1000–1065, king from 1037) * Ferdinand I of Portugal and the Algarve, ''the Handsome'' (1345–1383, king from 1367) * Ferdinand I of Aragon and Sicily, '' ...

, who also ordered parity representation of all three nationalities in the administration (4 April 1551). The estimated size of the population in the 16th century was 2,000-3,000 citizens. At the end of the Middle Ages, the town was inhabited by cca 5,000 people including those living in suburbs behind the city walls. A presence of the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community is well documented from the 14th century.

Modern

According to the last census from 2001, Trnava had 70,286 inhabitants, while according to the estimate from 2006, Trnava had 68,466 inhabitants with an average age of 37.3 years. In 2018, it had 65,207 inhabitants. Nationality (2001 census): *Slovaks (96.89%) *Czechs (0.79%) *Romas (0.27%) *Hungarians (0.21%) Age: *Pre-productive Age: 9,947 *Productive Age: 46,742 *Post-productive Age: 11,603

Government

The current government structure has been in place since 1990, and is composed of a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

(''primátor'') and of a

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

(''Mestské zastupiteľstvo''), which in turn leads a city board (''Mestská rada'') and city commissions (''Komisie mestského zastupiteľstva''). The mayor is the city's top executive officer, elected for a four-year term; the current mayor is Peter Brocka, who is serving his first term and was inaugurated to function on 12 December 2014. The city council is the highest legislative body of the city, represented by 31 councillors, elected to a concurrent term with the mayor's. Since 2002, Trnava is divided into six urban districts, with area and further sub-units in parentheses: *Trnava-centre (2.15 km²; ''Staré mesto'' ld Town ''Špiglsál'') *Trnava-west (20.60 km²; ''Prednádražie'') *Trnava-south (8.03 km²; ''Tulipán'', ''Linčianska'') *Trnava-east (10.66 km²; ''Hlboká'', ''Vozovka'') *Trnava-north (22.33 km²; ''Kopánka'', ''Zátvor'', ''Vodáreň'') *Modranka (7.76 km²) However, compared to the present-day total area of 71.53 km², the city used to have a larger area. Its height was in the 1970s, when it annexed villages of Modranka,

Biely Kostol Biely Kostol ( hu, Pozsonyfehéregyház) is a village and municipality of Trnava District in the Trnava region of Slovakia. As of the 2018 census, the population was 2,113, with the sex ratio being 50.8% male & 49.2% female. Climate Biely Kosto ...

and Hrnčiarovce nad Parnou, reaching an area of almost 90 km². The latter two separated in 1993 and 1994, respectively.

Education

Trnava is the seat of two universities: University of Trnava (present) with 7,159 students, including 446 doctoral students. and of the

University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava ( Slovak: ''Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda v Trnave'') is a public university located in Trnava, Slovakia. Established by Law No. 201/1997 Z.z. from 27 June 1997. Since 2018, Roman Boča has ...

, with 6,833 students. The city's system of primary education consists of nine public schools and one religious primary school with a total of 5,422 pupils enrolled in 2006. Secondary education is represented by four gymnasia with 2,099 students, 7 specialized high schools with 3,212 students, and 6 vocational schools with 3,697 students.

Transport

Road

The city lies at the crossroads of two roads of international importance; from the Czech Republic to southern Slovakia and from Bratislava to northern Slovakia. The D1 motorway connects the city to Bratislava,

Trenčín Trenčín (, also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia of the central Váh River valley near the Czech border, around from Bratislava. It has a population of more than 55,000, which makes it the eighth largest munic ...

and Žilina and the R1 expressway connects it to

. A part of a planned bypass is currently under construction.

Rail

The city also has an important station on the Bratislava–Žilina railway, with two tracks from

Sereď Sereď (; hu, Szered ) is a town in southern Slovakia near Trnava, on the right bank of the Váh River on the Danubian Lowland. It has approximately 15,500 inhabitants. Geography Sereď lies at an altitude of above sea level and covers an are ...

and

Kúty Kúty, (german: Kutti; hu, Jókút) is a village and municipality in Senica District in the Trnava Region of western Slovakia. History The village was first mentioned in 1392 under the name Kuth. And in 1498 as Kwhty. Kút is equal to Corn ...

(near the Czech border) ending in the city.

Air

Although there is a small airstrip Letisko Boleráz to the north of the city, the closest international airports are in

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Local public transit

The city also operates a public transport service, currently with 16 lines.

Recreation

Parks and open spaces

* Ružový park *

Janko Kráľ park Janko Kráľ Park ( sk, Sad Janka Kráľa, literally ''Janko Kráľ Orchard/Garden''; formerly called ''Städtischer Aupark'' (in German), is a park in Bratislava's Petržalka borough. It is located in the northern part of Petržalka, bordered by ...

* Bernolákov sad * Park of

Belo IV Belo may refer to: Organizations * Belo Corporation, a United States media company now part of Gannett * A. H. Belo Corporation, a media company in Dallas, Texas, United States now known as DallasNews Corporation Places * Belo, Cameroon, a tow ...

* Park pri Kalvárií * Park SNP * Univerzitný parčík *Recreation zone Štrky *Trnava ponds

Notable residents

Blažej Baláž Blažej Baláž (born 29 October 1958 in Nevoľné, Slovakia, former Czechoslovakia) is a contemporary Slovak artist. His practise as an artist is usually associated with political art, environmental, activist, mail-art and neo-conceptualism. A ...

(born 1958), Slovak conceptual artist *

Mária Balážová Mária Balážová (born 31 August 1956 in Trnava, Slovakia, former Czechoslovakia) is a contemporary Slovak artist. Her practise as an artist is usually associated with new geometry, post-geometry and postmodern. Life and work Balážová studi ...

(born 1956), Slovak painter * Juraj Beneš (1940–2004), composer * Anton Bernolák (1762–1813), priest, writer, the author of the first Slovak

language standard The literary norm or linguistic norm or linguistic standard or language norm is a historically determined set of commonly used language assets, as well as rules for their selection and use, which have been recognized by society as the most appropri ...

Pavol Blažek Pavol Blažek (born 9 July 1958) is a retired race walker, who represented Czechoslovakia and later Slovakia in the Olympic Games. He was born in Trnava Trnava (, german: Tyrnau; hu, Nagyszombat, also known by other alternative names) is a ci ...

(born 1958), race walker *

Libor Charfreitag Libor Charfreitag (born 11 September 1977 in Trnava) is a former hammer thrower from Slovakia. His personal best throw is 81.81 metres, achieved in June 2003 in Prague. Career He was chosen Slovak athlete of the year in 2003. He attended Southe ...

(born 1977),

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consist ...

er *

Karol Dobiáš Karol may refer to: Places * Karol, Gujarat, a village on Saurashtra peninsula in Gujarat, west India * Karol State, a former Rajput petty princely state with seat in the above town Film/TV *'' Karol: A Man Who Became Pope'', a 2005 miniseries *' ...

(born 1947), football player * Vilmos Fraknói (1843–1924), Hungarian-Jewish, Roman Catholic priest, historian, secretary of HAS, titular bishop, canon of Várad * Károly Hadaly (1743–1834), Hungarian mathematician * Maximilian Hell (1720–1792), Hungarian astronomer *

Jozef Heriban Jozef Heriban (born 9 July 1953) is a Slovak writer, scenarist and film director. He devotes his time to literature and film. He is the former President of the Slovak PEN Centre, a Vice-President of the Board of the Slovak Audiovisual Fund a ...

(born 1953), Slovak novelist and screenwriter * Ányos Jedlik (1800–1895), Hungarian scientist, inventor, teacher, member of the

Order of Saint Benedict , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

* Miroslav Karhan (born 1976), football player *

Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (; hu, Kodály Zoltán, ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music ed ...

(1882–1967), Hungarian composer * Taťána Kuchařová (born 1987), Miss Czech Republic 2006,

Miss World 2006 Miss World 2006, the 56th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 30 September 2006 at the Sala Kongresowa, the main 2,897-seat auditorium of the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland. It was the first time ever that the page ...

* Louis I of Hungary (1326–1382), King of Hungary, Croatia and Poland *

Anton Malatinský Anton Malatinský (15 January 1920 – 1 December 1992) was a Slovak football player and coach. He was a technically adept playmaking midfielder and, as a coach, he was regarded as a good strategist. Malatinský won two Czechoslovak First League ...

(1920–1992), Slovak/Czechoslovak football player and coach *

Igor Matovič Igor Matovič (born May 11, 1973) is a Slovak politician and former businessman. He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and Minister of Finance from April 2021 to December 2022 and Prime Minister from March 2020 to March 2021. ...

(born 1973),

Prime Minister of Slovakia The prime minister of Slovakia, officially the Chairman of the government of the Slovak Republic ( Slovak: ''Predseda vlády Slovenskej republiky''), commonly referred to in Slovakia as ''Predseda vlády'' or informally as ''Premiér'', is the ...

Milan Mikuláš Milan Mikuláš (born 1 April 1963 in Trnava) is a retired triple jumper who represented Czechoslovakia during his active career. His personal best jump is 17.53 metres, achieved in July 1988 in Prague. This is the current Czech recordHis personal ...

(born 1963), triple jumper * Jozef Miso (born 1973), football player * Nicolaus Olahus (1493–1568), Hungarian archbishop * Péter Pázmány (1570–1637), Hungarian cardinal and statesman * János Sajnovics (1733–1785), Hungarian astronomer and linguist *

Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský KSG (24 May 1881, Trnava – 28 May 1958, Bratislava) was a Slovak composer, conductor and pedagogue. He was popular mostly because of his songs, some becoming traditional. Life In 1900, he passed his maturit ...

(1881–1958), composer and conductor *

Marek Ujlaky Marek Ujlaky may refer to: * Marek Ujlaky (footballer, born 1974) * Marek Ujlaky (footballer, born 2003) {{hndis, Ujlaky, Marek ...

(born 1974), football player * Rudolf Vrba (1924–2006), co-author of the Vrba-Wetzler report, professor of pharmacology at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

* Alfred Wetzler (1918–1988), co-author of the Vrba-Wetzler report

Twin towns — Sister cities

Trnava is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Balakovo, Russia *

Břeclav Břeclav (; german: Lundenburg) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 24,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts Town parts of Charvátská Nová Ves and Poštorná are administrative parts of Břeclav. Etymol ...

, Czech Republic * Casale Monferrato, Italy * Chomutov, Czech Republic *

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Novo Mesto, Slovenia * Sangerhausen, Germany *

Szombathely Szombathely (; german: Steinamanger, ; see also other alternative names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by t ...

, Hungary *

Varaždin ) , image_photo = , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shield = Grb_Grad ...

, Croatia * Zabrze, Poland

Notes

References

External links

*
Official Tourism and Travel Guide to Trnava

Trnava University in Trnava

University of St. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Slovakia