Nitra

Sister cities

• Gyeongju
• Zoetermeer
• České Budějovice
• Osijek
• Gosford
• Bački Petrovac
• Naperville
• Kroměříž
• Sumy
• Veszprém
• Zielona Góra
• Kielce

History

The oldest archaeological findings in Nitra are dated to around 25,000-30,000 years ago. The locality has been inhabited in all historical periods in the last 5,000-7,000 years. Several European archaeological cultures and groups were named after important archaeological discoveries in Nitra or its near surroundings - Nitra culture, Brodzany-Nitra group, or Lužianky group of Lengyel culture. The people of Madarovce culture had built the first fortification on Castle Hill by around 1,600 BCE. In the Iron Age, a large hillfort was built on Zobor Hill and additional smaller hillforts on the Lupka Hill and in Dražovce (700-500 BCE). Several Celtic settlements are known from the 5th-1st centuries. The Celts minted silver tetradrachms known as coins of the Nitra type and probably also built a hillfort in the locality Na Vŕšku. In the Roman period (1st-4th centuries CE), the Germanic tribe of Quadi settled in the area, which is also mentioned as their possible capital (396 CE). The largest Germanic settlement from the migration period in the territory of modern-day Slovakia was unearthed in Nitra-Párovské Háje. The first Slavs arrived in the territory of present Slovakia at the end of the 5th and early 6th centuries. The early Slavs settled mainly in the lowlands near the water flows; the highest density of their settlements is documented just in the area of Nitra. As the Avars expanded into the territory of modern-day Slovakia in the latter half of the 7th century and early 8th century, the border between Slavic and Slavo-Avaric territory shifted toward Nitra. A biritual cemetery in Nitra-Dolné Krškany lies on the northern border of the mixed settlement area. The importance of Nitra for the Slavs began to grow in the 8th century, and thereafter it evolved to the…