Námestovo ( hu, Námesztó; pl, Namiestów) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in northern

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 ...

. It is the capital and largest town of

Námestovo District Námestovo District (''okres Námestovo'') is a district in the Žilina Region of central Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe ...

in the

Žilina Region The Žilina Region ( sk, Žilinský kraj; pl, Kraj żyliński; hu, Zsolnai kerület) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions and consists of 11 districts ( okresy) and 315 municipalities, from which 18 have a town status. The region ...

. its population was 7,827.

Etymology

The name is derived from a word ''námesta'' (a representative, a deputy; like modern Slovak ''námestník'' or

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

''náměstek'') referring to a representative of

Vlach "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Eastern ...

settlers whose seat was in Námestovo. Alternatively, it could be derived from a personal name Namest (a less probable theory).

Geography

The town is located under the

Orava Highlands The Orava Highlands (in Slovak, ''Oravská vrchovina'') is a range of small mountains in the Žilina Region of north central Slovakia, part of the Outer Western Carpathians. In Slovakia these hills are considered part of the Central Beskids; in ...

at the shores of the Orava reservoir, not far from the Polish border, around from

Tvrdošín Tvrdošín (german: Turdoschin or ''Thurdossin''; hu, Turdossin; pl, Twardoszyn) is a town in central Slovakia. Geography The town is located at the confluence of the Orava and Oravica rivers, from the Polish borders and cca. from Dolný Kub ...

and from

Dolný Kubín Dolný Kubín (; also known by other names) is a town in northern Slovakia in the Žilina Region. It is the historical capital and the largest settlement of the Orava region. Names The name is derived from the archaic Slovak word meaning a "gla ...

History

The town was mentioned in the 16th century, when the massive colonisation of Orava took place. It was growing quickly, thanks to its favourable location on the trade route to

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 ...

. The town was burned down at the end of

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The construction of the Orava reservoir affected the way of life in the town, as two-thirds of the town were inundated, including the town centre. Boom of the industry and the following apartment construction in the 1970s contributed to the growth of the town.

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 8,135 inhabitants. 98.65% 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 0.65%

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 92.12%

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 ...

, 4.95% people with no religious affiliation and 0.84%

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 ...

Pictures

File:Summer afternoon at Orava Reservoir.jpg, Summer afternoon at Orava Reservoir File:A sailboat on the Orava Reservoir.jpg, A sailboat on the Orava Reservoir File:Namestovo_winter.JPG, Námestovo in winter File:Pri Oravskom mori.jpg, Winter on the bank of Orava Reservoir File:Namestovo autumn.jpg, Námestovo in autumn File:Statue of Anton Bernolák on Slanica Isle.jpg, Statue of Anton Bernolák on Slanica Isle File:Pamätná tabula Antonovi Bernolákovi na Slanickom ostrove.jpg, A memorial plaque to Anton Bernolák on Slanica Isle

People

Jozef Kabaň Jozef Kabaň (born 4 January 1973) is a Slovak automobile designer. He started his career as a designer at Volkswagen. In 2003 he moved to Audi as an exterior design assistant. In 2007 he advanced to the position of Chief of Exterior Design at Au ...

Dušan Tittel Dušan Tittel (born 27 December 1966) is a former Slovak professional footballer, who played internationally for Czechoslovakia (11 caps) and Slovakia (44 caps, 7 goals). He was elected three times Slovakia player of the year. International goals ...

Anton Bernolák Anton Dif Bernolák; hu, Bernolák Antal; 3 October 1762 – 15 January 1813) was a Slovak linguist and Catholic priest, and the author of the first Slovak language standard. Life He was born as the second child to a lower noble family in the ...

References

External links

The Town of Námestovo
Cities and towns in Slovakia {{Žilina-geo-stub