Slovakia Natural Environment

Humenné ( pronunciation ( help · info ) ; German : Homenau ; Hungarian : Homonna ) is a town in the Prešov Region ("kraj") in eastern Slovakia and the second largest town of the historic Zemplín region. It lies at the volcanic Vihorlat mountains and at the confluence of the Laborec and Cirocha Rivers.
Characteristics Humenné is a center of one of the easternmost districts ("okres") in Slovakia. Its life is rich in cultural and sports events. The town is a starting point for tourism, because there are numerous opportunities in the picturesque countryside of the East Carpathians , though this field still requires an intensification of business activities and funding. The most attractive places are the Vihorlat Mountains boasting of their Morské oko lake, and the Poloniny (Wooden Carpathians ) at the border of Slovakia, Poland , and Ukraine , which are part of the National Park Poloniny . The surroundings of Humenné, with their romantic ruins of medieval castles and an open-air museum of architecture situated in the town park, are a source of knowledge and relaxation. Castles in the surroundings of Humenné: Brekov Castle (in ruins, 3 km to the south) Jasenov Castle (in ruins, 7 km to the southwest) [ edit ] History Humenné castle The Laborec river and the Carpathian mountains predetermined the development of the town and its surroundings, a silent witness of which has been Vihorlat volcano, at 1,075 m the highest peak of the Vihorlat mountains. Thanks to its advantageous location and pleasant climate, preconditioned by the neighboring mountains, the town has been an attractive place for people since the Stone Age , which is evidenced by a number of archeological findings. The Slavic forefathers of the Slovaks gradually moved to the basin of Humenné during the great migration of peoples, starting in the 5th century. An intensive and organized settlement of this area started as late as in the middle of the 13th century, after the Mongol raids. The first written document mentioning Humenné dates back to 1317. The history of Humenné is closely connected with the Drughets (Drugets, Drugetovci), a distinguished aristocratic family originally from Naples , who, accompanying the king Charles Robert of Anjou, came to the Kingdom of Hungary (Slovakia was part of the Kingdom of Hungary) at the beginning of the 14th century. The Drugeths made Humenné their seat and changed it into the centre of one of the largest feudal dominions in Slovakia. King Matthias Corvinus conferred civic privileges (town status) on the town, which were validated by a seal with coat of arms. At that time, the town was crossed by an important trade route connecting the Kingdom of Hungary with the Kingdom of Poland . Humenné is mentioned among royal customs offices, and later on it received the right of storehousing and supposedly market rights, too. This was also the time of an ever increasing influence of shepherd colonization from Carpatho-Ukraine by the so-called Walachians ( Ruthenes , Poles , and Romanians ). The most significant town monument, a Renaissance castle, was built on the place of an original stone castle in about 1610. The castle came to be an indispensable characteristic feature of the town and serves for museum and cultural purposes at present. In 1613, during the Counter Reformation , a Jesuit college was established as the first secondary school in the history of Humenné. The Drugeth line died out in 1684 and new feudal lords moved in, notably the Csakys and the Wandernats . The abolition of some feudal duties and the reforms of Maria Theresa promoted the development of crafts, and Humenné became the seat of the so-called "salt office". The town's population consisted of Slovaks , Ruthenes , Hungarians and Jews . Latin was used as the administrative language, which appeared to be a stabilizing factor in such a mixture of nationalities. The Andrassy family from Transylvania started to influence the history of Humenné in the 19th century, a period characterized by economic growth. Moreover, many new buildings were erected at that time. The main fields of activities of town inhabitants were agriculture, crafts and trade. The first train appeared in Humenné in 1871, stimulating the development of trade and wood cutting. In 1899(?) the first business academy in Austria-Hungary was established in Humenné. Toward the end of the 19th century, Humenné counted 4,000 inhabitants. The 20th century brought along a cultural revival. Humenné was famous for its markets and fairs. This promising, though timid, development was interrupted by World War I. A short period of the existence of Czechoslovakia between the two world wars proved to have positive effects upon the life of Humenné. As a corollary of World War II, however, all the effort had to start from the very beginning. Until 1956 Humenné was an administrative rather than an economic centre. Then the construction of a plant for the production of textile polyamide fibres, the present CHEMLON company, triggered a real chain effect on the town's growth. Humenné was gradually becoming a centre of chemical, building, food and mechanical engineering industries. This had a positive impact on the development of technical colleges. The industrial development entailed large-scale housing projects, and the town area was completed by new housing estates. While there were 7,000 inhabitants living in Humenné in 1948, the population now amounts to over 35,000. [ edit ] Demographics According to the 2001 census , the town had 35,157 inhabitants. 87.80% of inhabitants were Slovaks , 4.84% Rusyns , 3.27% Roma , 2.11% Ukrainian and 0.77% Czechs . [1] The religious makeup was 57.91% Roman Catholics , 23.00% Greek Catholics , 8.69% people with no religious affiliation, 5.91% Orthodox and 0.98% Lutherans . [1] [ edit ] Famous people Peter Breiner , pianist, conductor, and composer Michal Kováč - first Slovak president in the modern era Jozef Cardinal Tomko , cardinal Joachim Jacob Unger , rabbi Kristian Kotov chess master Buddy Nestor , first winner of Slovakia's Overweight Competeition (2003) MARTIN SUCHAR , ARCHITECT

Žilina ( pronunciation ( help · info ) ; German : Sillein , Hungarian : Zsolna , names in other languages ) is a city in north-western Slovakia , around 200 kilometres (120 mi ) from the capital Bratislava . It is the fourth largest city of Slovakia with a population of around 85,000, an important industrial centre, the largest city on the Váh river, and the seat of a kraj ( Žilina Region ) and of an okres ( Žilina District ).
History The area around today's Žilina was inhabited in the late Stone Age (around 20 000 BC). In the 5th century Slavs started to move into the area. However, the first written reference to Žilina was in 1208 as terra de Selinan . The city started to develop around year 1300, and according to records in 1312 it was already a town. In 1321 , King Charles I made Žilina a free royal town. On 7 May 1381 King Louis I issued Privilegium pro Slavis which made the Slovak inhabitants equal to the German colonists by allocating half of the seats at the city council to Slovaks. [1] The town was burned in 1431 by the Hussites . During the 17th century Žilina gained position as a centre of manufacturing, trade and education and during the baroque age many monasteries and churches were built as well as the Budatín Castle . In the Revolutions of 1848 , Slovak volunteers, part of the Imperial Army, won a battle near the city against Hungarian honveds and gardists. The city boomed in the second half of the 19th century as new railway tracks were built: the Košice-Bohumín Railway was finished in 1872 and the railway to Bratislava in 1883 , and new factories started to spring up, for example the drape-producing factory Slovena (1891) and the Považie chemical works (1892). It was one of the first municipalities to sign the Martin Declaration (30 October 1918), and until March 1919 it was the seat of the Slovak government. On 6 October 1938 , shortly after the Munich Agreement , autonomy of Slovakia within Czechoslovakia was declared in Žilina. After the Second World War , the city experienced a boom, with many new factories, schools, and housing estates being built. It was the seat of the Žilina Region from 1949-1960 and again since 1996 . Today Žilina is the fourth largest city in Slovakia , the third most important industrial centre and the seat of a university , the Žilinská univerzita (founded in 1953 ). Since 1990 the historical centre of the city has been largely restored and the city has built trolleybus lines. [ edit ] Geography Žilina lies at an altitude of 342 metres (1,122 ft) above sea level and covers an area of 80.03 square kilometres (30.9 sq mi ). [2] It is located in the Upper Váh region ( Slovak : Horné Považie ) at the confluence of three rivers: Váh, flowing from east into south-west, Kysuca , flowing from north and Rajčanka rivers from south, in the Žilina Basin . The city is surrounded by these mountain ranges: Malá Fatra , Súľovské vrchy , Javorníky and Kysucká vrchovina . Protected areas nearby include: Strážov Mountains Protected Landscape Area , Kysuce Protected Landscape Area and Malá Fatra National Park . There are two hydroelectric dams on the Váh river around Žilina: the Žilina dam in the East and the Hričov dam in the West. [ edit ] Climate Žilina lies in the north temperate zone and has a continental climate with four distinct seasons. It is characterized by a significant variation between hot summers and cold, snowy winters. Average temperature in July is 18 °C (64 °F), in January −4 °C (24.8 °F). Average annual rainfall is 650 - 700 mm (25.5–27.5 in), most of the rainfall is in June and in the first half of July. Snow cover lasts from 60 to 80 days per year.

great place to go any time of year, starting point of many interesting routes. if u re staying longer, u might take a trip to Vienna, a boat trip to Devin castle, at the meeting point of 2 beautiful rivers, or a bit further to Heinburg, in summer time horse races, loads of outdoor sports (skating, cycling) available at the river bank, all the lakes are ready to accomodate anyone who needs to cool down after 30 degrees summer temperatures, with many handy refreshment stalls, ice cream, cold drinks or local beer, which is really worth trying. In winter don t miss beautiful christmas markets with traditional fast food, live music and gluh wine, outdoor skating rank on the main square in front of the historical building of the national theatre.