Veľký Šariš ( hu, Nagysáros) is a small town near

Prešov Prešov (, hu, Eperjes, Rusyn language, Rusyn and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Пряшів) is a city in Eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region ( sk, Prešovský kraj) and Šariš, as well as the historic Sáros Cou ...

in eastern

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 ...

. The town is known as the site of the largest brewery in Slovakia – Šariš Brewery.

Etymology

The etymology of the name is uncertain. Hungarian historians and linguists prefer the theory that it is derived from the Hungarian word ''sár'' or ''sáros'' (muddy). Slovak historians and linguists assume that the name comes from pre-Hungarian period and is of Slavic or even older origin.

Geography

Veľký Šariš 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 comb ...

and covers an area of . It is located on the Torysa river, north-north-west from

. There are ruins of

Šariš Castle Šariš Castle (Slovak language, Slovak: ''Šarišský hrad'', Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Sáros vára'') is a ruined Gothic_architecture, Gothic and Renaissance_architecture_in_Central_Europe, Renaissance era stone castle above the town of V ...

above the city, which were reconstructed in recent years and serve as place for various cultural events, such as music festivals or film festivals.

History

The area has been inhabited since prehistoric times. A Slavic settlement on the castle foot hill is dated to the 9th–10th century, other settlements were unearthed in the area of the town (9th–10th century, 10th–11th century, later abandoned settlement dated to the 12th–13th century) and at the location ''Dzikov potok'' (8th–9th century). The first written mention of Veľký Šariš dates back to 1217 (''Sarus'') The town was a royal town then a landlord town (since 1465).

Demographics

According to the 2001

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 town had 4,018 inhabitants. 91.69% 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 ...

, 6.07%

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

, 0.60%

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...

and 0.55%

Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, c ...

. The religious makeup was 84.59%

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, 4.55% people with no religious affiliation, 4.31%

Greek Catholics The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...

and 2.56%

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

Economy

There is brewery Šariš located in town. The brewery was built in 1964 and is part of group SABMiller, which acquired brewery in 1997. Brewery has around 550 employees.

Twin towns — sister cities

Veľký Šariš is twinned with: * Nyírtelek,

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, Croatia a ...

Grybów Grybów ( uk, Грибів, ''Hrybiv''; german: Grünberg, ''Grynberk''; yi, גריבאוו, ''Gribuv''),Prof. Maria Malec. ''Słownik nazw geograficznych Polski.'' 2003. WN PWN. 2007. .Prof. Stanisław Rospond. ''Słownik Etymologiczny Miast i ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

* Rakoshino,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

References

External links

Official website

Number of inhabitants 2011
(PDF) Cities and towns in Slovakia Šariš {{Prešov-geo-stub