Bojná ( hu, Nyitrabajna) is a municipality in the

Topoľčany District Topoľčany District (''okres Topoľčany'') is a district in the Nitra Region of western Slovakia. It borders Nové Mesto nad Váhom District and Bánovce nad Bebravou District in the north, Piešťany District and Hlohovec District in the west, ...

of the

Nitra Region The Nitra Region ( sk, Nitriansky kraj, ; hu, Nyitrai kerület) is one of the administrative regions of Slovakia. It was first established in 1923 and from 1996 exists in its present borders. It consists of seven districts ( sk, okres) and 354 ...

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 ...

. The village has a population of 2013 people. The main landmark is Catholic Church of All Saints built in 1787. Opposite the church stands (since World War II defunct) synagogue, later turned community center then car repair and nowadays a bar. The village stretches about 4 km along river Bojnianka which continues through villages of

Veľké Dvorany Veľké Dvorany ( hu, Nagyudvar) is a municipality in the Topoľčany District Topoľčany District (''okres Topoľčany'') is a district in the Nitra Region of western Slovakia. It borders Nové Mesto nad Váhom District and Bánovce nad Bebrav ...

, Urmince and Chrabrany before emptying into the Nitra river, itself a tributary of the Danube.

Etymology

The name is derived from ''boj'' (fight, battle) preserved in all

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavs, Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic language, Proto ...

. ''Bojna'' or ''Bojnica'' meant ''place of battle'', ''battleground'' (modern Slovak: ''bojisko'') but the name could be derived also from some personal name related to ''boj'', e.g. ''Bojan'', ''Bojen''. In this case, Bojná is shortening of ''Bojnja Ves'' - ''village of Bojen''. Similar names in Slovakia are

Bojnice Bojnice (german: Weinitz; hu, Bajmóc) is a historical town in central Slovakia located on the Nitra river, near the city of Prievidza. The town is situated just below the Bojnice Castle. It has a population of around 5,000. Bojnice is best k ...

, Bojničky, Bojanová, Bojarky and many others.

Archeological complex

Bojná is known for an archeological complex which belongs to one of largest

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 agglomeration in Slovakia. The system of Slavic hill forts lies on the southeast foot of

Považský Inovec Považský Inovec is a mountain range in western Slovakia, named after the Váh river. It is 48 km (30 mi) long and 15–25 km (9-16 mi) wide mountain range. It is situated from the city of Hlohovec, raising from the Danubian ...

on the strategic point between

Váh The Váh (; german: Waag, ; hu, Vág; pl, WagWag
w Słowniku geograficznym Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów ...

and

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 ...

river basins. The pass near Bojná was guarded by hill forts Bojná I (Valy), Bojná II (Hradisko), Bojná III (Žihľavník) and the location Bojná IV (Nové Valy). The locality is close to other pre-Great Moravian and Great Moravian sites like Pobedim,

Ducové Ducové ( hu, Ducó) is a municipality (village) situated in western Slovakia, near the spa town of Piešťany. It was part of the municipality Moravany nad Váhom from 1976 to 1992. The village lies under the Váh Inovec. According to the 2011 c ...

Nitrianska Blatnica Nitrianska Blatnica ( hu, Nyitrasárfő) is a municipality with 1,192 inhabitants in the Topoľčany District of the Nitra Region, Slovakia. In the hills above the village is a church of Saint George /rotunda svätého Juraja/, from 9th and 10th c ...

. The hill fort Bojná I was protected by multiple walls as high as 6 meters with ditches and gates. In the 9th century, the hill fort was intensely populated. Several craft workshops (mostly smithies) and thousands of artifacts were unearthed on the place. Along with artisanal and agricultural tools, a large amount of weapons including typical

battle axe A battle axe (also battle-axe, battle ax, or battle-ax) is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were specialized versions of utility axes. Many were suitable for use in one hand, while others were larger and were deployed two-h ...

s, large knives, fragments of

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed t ...

s and

seax ''Seax'' (; also sax, sæx, sex; invariant in plural, latinized ''sachsum'') is an Old English word for "knife". In modern archaeology, the term ''seax'' is used specifically for a type of small sword, knife or dagger typical of the Germanic ...

es. The presence of elite warriors can be documented by spurs, chain armors, gold-plated parts of military equipment, gold-coated and silver-coated adornments and other luxury objects. The religious articles belong to the oldest Christian articles in Slovakia. The most important findings are a bronze bell of Canino type, fragments of other three bells and six gold-coated plaquettes with angels and Christ dated to 780-820, dozen years before the mission of

Saints Cyril and Methodius Cyril (born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (815–885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs". They are credited wi ...

. Two short inscriptions in Latin alphabet are the oldest evidence of writing in the Slovak history. A large amount of weapon can be related to the violent destruction of the hill fort, probably by the old Hungarian units. According to radiocarbon data and other dating methods, the hill fort could be used less intense in the 10th century, later settlement is not documented. The artifacts are displayed in Ponitrianske múzeum of

. A local museum has opened in August 2007. Valy locality is currently being researched by an international archaeologist team.

Later history

The village itself was first mentioned in 1424, though an incorporated settlement Malé Dvorany was first mentioned in the end of the 12th century. Before the world wars there was also a sizeable Jewish population here. The synagogue, once the approximate size of the remaining church, has been turned into a bar and a sports hall.

Present

Football is a popular sport and the village hosts two male adult teams (Slovan Bojná and Malé Dvorany) plus several junior teams. Many of the locals and also outsiders have additional property used for recreation and gardening at the location called Vinohrad (vineyard) plus there are more cottages in the neighbouring forest. The forest itself is also used for mushroom picking by the villagers. A private mini-zoo and a ranch has been opened at the forest line near the upper end of the village. Bojná Valy

As of 2018, the eastern gate was reconstructed at the hillfort Bojná - Valy. It is 11 m high, 12 m wide and it has 7 m long tunnel behind the gate.

Etymology

Archeological complex

Later history

Present

See also