Púchov (; ) is an industrial
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 the centre of
Púchov District
Púchov District (, ) is a Districts of Slovakia, district in the Trenčín Region of western Slovakia. Until 1918, the district was part of the Administrative divisions of the Kingdom of Hungary, county of Kingdom of Hungary of Trencsén County, ...
in
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 ...
, with a population close to 18,000.
Geography
It is located on the main train line between
Bratislava
Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
and
Košice
Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...
. It is halfway between
Trenčín
Trenčín (, also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is a List of towns in Slovakia, city in western Slovakia of the central Váh River valley near the Czech Republic, Czech border, around from Bratislava. It has a populati ...
and
Žilina
Žilina (; ; ; ; Names of European cities in different languages: U-Z#Z, names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the List of cities ...
, two major Slovak cities, approximately 30 minutes train from both cities.
The
Váh
The Váh (; , ; ; Wag
w Słowniku geograficznym Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich (''in Geograph ...
river crosses Púchov, and there is a small dam open to public crossing.
The health resort
Nimnica
Nimnica () is a spa village and municipality in Púchov District in the Trenčín Region of north-western Slovakia. It is located between the towns of Púchov and Považská Bystrica.
History
In historical records the village was first mentio ...
(until 1990 part of Púchov) is situated in the vicinity and is a starting point for tours to
Javorníky and
White Carpathians
The White Carpathians (; ; ) are a mountain range on the border of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, part of the Carpathians.
They are part of the macroregion of Slovak-Moravian Carpathians, stretching from the Váh river and the Little Carpat ...
mountains.
Parts:
History
The nearness of the Váh river and town's strategic location contributed to create cultural and social relations, which were a part of its history. The first written reference dates back to 1243, when
Béla IV., King of Hungary, signed his gift certificate to Vychlap Bechend. In this reference are also mentioned Leustrak's son and Puch from his immediate vicinities. The word "puch" is of Indo-European origin and it can be translated as "puffed up", "haughty" and "ov" is a possessive suffix, therefore this name can be translated as a former "land of Puch". There exist another version, that origin of town's name originates from the word "Pochov", which denotes a place many deceased from the whole vicinities were buried in the past. This claim was supported by many archaeological excavations of the graves throughout the centuries.
Púchov vicinities, especially Púchovská skala (Púchov rock) was settled earlier during palaeolithic period. The excavations give evidence of settlements since the early Stone Age to the Roman period. During 1888-1894 an Austrian Army commissioned officer, an amateur archaeologist, baron Emil Friedrich Johannes Hoenning O'Carroll carried out an exploration of Púchovská Skala and his discovery of two bronze swords explained the town's ancient history. His discoveries later contributed to the origin of the official archaeological name Púchov culture. During the 7th – 8th centuries was the town settled by Slavs and in the 9th century the Moravian settlements shared the most expansion. In 1469 Matthias Corvinus, the King of Hungary, gave Púchov homestead to the Marczibányis, who were the lineal descendants of Púchovs since the 13th century.
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 18,833 inhabitants. 97.4% 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 ...
, 1.3%
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 ...
and 0.2%
Roma.
The religious make-up was 71.4%
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 ...
, 13.8%
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 ...
, and 11.3% people with no religious affiliation.
Economy
It is a strong industry base - home to
Matador
A bullfighter or matador () is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter, and describe all the performers in the activ ...
and
Continental Tire
Continental AG, commonly known as Continental and colloquially as Conti, is a German multinational Automotive industry, automotive parts manufacturing company. Headquartered in Hanover, Lower Saxony, it is the world's third-List of the largest ...
plants, producers of pneumatic tyres, and
Makyta, a producer of fashion clothes. Matador is a 20-minute walk from the train station in Púchov, while the city center is a 10-minute walk in the other direction.
Sport
The number one sport in the town is football. The local team
FK Matador Púchov had several successful seasons in the Slovak highest league, but currently is only in the Slovak second league. Among other sports, there has been a long tradition of swimming. Several of the best swimmers made it to the European championship.
Some other sport clubs worth mentioning are volleyball and handball.
The local ice hockey team is actually the Slovak National Ice Hockey Team under 20. The team named "Slovakia 20" is a permanent member of the highest Ice Hockey league. This was done as an experiment to help the young players to get more tough matches and increase their motivation.
Cyclists,
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
and
Martin Velits, come from Púchov as well.
Slovak Bandy Association has organised
rink bandy
Rink bandy is a variant of the larger sport of bandy. Unlike bandy which is played on a large bandy field, rink bandy is played on significantly smaller ice hockey-sized ice rinks.
While a bandy field is about the same size as a football pi ...
practice in Púchov.
Culture and education
The town has several high schools and a branch of the
Slovak University of Technology.
Twin towns — sister cities
Púchov is
twinned with:
*
Babruysk
Babruysk (, ) or Bobruysk (, ; , ) is a city in Mogilev Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Babruysk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is situated on the Berezina, Berezina River. Bab ...
, Belarus
*
Bela Cerkev, Ukraine
*
Hlinsko
Hlinsko () is a town in Chrudim District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,600 inhabitants. The local part of Betlém is well preserved example of folk architecture and is protected as a Cultural monument (Czech Republi ...
, Czech Republic
*
Omsk
Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...
, Russia
*
Stara Pazova, Serbia
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puchov
Cities and towns in Slovakia