Trenčín

Sister cities

• Cran-Gevrier
• Uherské Hradiště
• Békéscsaba
• Zlín
• Kragujevac
• Tarnów
• Casalecchio di Reno

History

The site of Trenčín has been inhabited since time immemorial. Trenčín Castle, a typical medieval fortified castle is situated high on a rock above the city. Trenčín is best known for a Roman inscription on the rock below the Trenčín Castle dating from 179 AD, the era of the Marcomannic Wars, a series of wars between the Roman Empire and the Germanic Quadi and Marcomanni. It denotes the site as Laugaricio and for long time it was the most northern known evidence of the presence of Roman soldiers in central Europe (until the Roman fort by Mušov and marching camps by Olomouc and Hulín were found). Trenčín is one of the suggested locations for the capital of Samo's Empire in the 7th century. Wogastisburg (Vogast castle) was probably located somewhere on the Vogas river and was also the site of a decisive battle between the Slavic and Frankish armies in 631. It is plausible that Trenčín Castle was founded during the Great Moravian era. At the beginning of the 11th century, the region was controlled by King Bolesław I the Brave of Poland. In 1017, Stephen I of Hungary conquered the region, which remained part of Hungary until 1918. By the end of the 11th century, the castle became the administrative centre of Trencsén county in the Kingdom. As one of the few stone castles in the country, it resisted the disastrous invasion of Mongols in 1241. In 1263, Trenčín was in the possession of the royal Swordbearer Jakab Cseszneky, but in 1302, King Wenceslas I took it away from the Cseszneky brothers because they were supporting his rival Charles Robert, and donated it to Matthew Csák. Between 1302 and 1321, the castle was the seat of the powerful magnate Matthew Csák, who controlled most of present-day Slovakia. Challenging the authority of King Charles Robert, Csák maintained a…

Geography

It lies in the Trenčín Basin of north-western Slovakia, which is surrounded by the Strážov Mountains, Považský Inovec and White Carpathians, with the last mentioned being a protected area. The Váh River flows in the north–south axis. Trenčín lies in the north temperate zone and has a continental climate (Dfb) with four distinct seasons. It is characterized by a significant variation between hot summers and cold, snowy winters.