Púchov

History

The first mentioned reference of Puchov was registered in 1243, when the the King Belo IV gave out lists of owners of many different places on Slovak area. One of these men was called Puch. He established a small village and named it after himself. Púchov was probably established in 1100. First citizens started to live near the “Púchov Rock”, but later they came down to the valley under the hill to find a better shelter because of many invasions of Hungarians. Until now, the Púchov Rock was considered as a most frequentlly resided place in the Slovak history. The notion “Culture of Púchov” is well known in history. From 15th to the second middle of 19th century, there was a family line of rulers called Marczibány. In the first half of 17th century, two brothers from Morava came to Púchov, taught people many trades, and established many workshops. Púchov became one of the most important trade centers in middle Europe. In 1649, King Ferdinand praised Púchov a right to estalished traditional fair. This tradition persists today. Every year, a three-day fair is organized on the Square of Freedom. At the end of the 18th century, a great house of Marczibány´s was built near the Váh River called “Župný Dom”. Today, it is the center of Púchov culture and Púchov's library. From the beginning of 20th century, many factories were built here, for example Syderolit and Syenit for producing facing, Matador for producing tires, or Rolný- the first production of clothes in Slovakia. Today its name is Makyta. Púchov is a very economically and culturally developed town and it is still continuing to improve itself.