Námestovo (; ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in northern

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. 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, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the ea ...

in the

Žilina Region The Žilina Region (; ; ) is one of the eight Regions of Slovakia, Slovak administrative regions and consists of 11 districts (okresy) and 315 municipalities, from which 18 have a town status. The region was established in 1923, however, in its p ...

. 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 *Czech (surnam ...

''náměstek'') referring to a representative of

Vlach Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula) ...

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; i ...

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

Tvrdošín Tvrdošín (; ) is a town in Northern Slovakia. Geography The town is located at the confluence of the Orava and Oravica rivers, from the Polish borders and cca. from Dolný Kubín. It consists of the boroughs of Krásna Hôrka, Medvedzie, and ...

and from

Dolný Kubín Dolný Kubín (; also known by #Names, 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), Orava region. Names The name is derived from the archaic Slov ...

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 extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. The town was burned down at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, the town had 8,135 inhabitants. 98.65% of inhabitants were

Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...

and 0.65%

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

. The religious makeup was 92.12%

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, 4.95% people with no religious affiliation and 0.84%

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

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 Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, ...

* Dušan Tittel *

Anton Bernolák Anton Bernolák (; 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 Árva region. He stud ...

References

External links

The Town of Námestovo
Cities and towns in Slovakia Orava (region) {{Žilina-geo-stub