Šamorín

Šamorín (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈʃamɔɾiːn]; Hungarian: Somorja, German: Sommerein) is a small town in western Slovakia, southeast of Bratislava.

Not to be confused with Zamorin.
Šamorín

Somorja
Town
Church of the Assumption
Coat of arms
Šamorín
Location of Šamorín in Slovakia
Coordinates: 48°01′36″N 17°18′42″E
CountrySlovakia
RegionTrnava
DistrictDS
First mentioned842
Government
 • MayorCsaba Orosz (SMK-MKP)
Area
 • Total44.348 km2 (17.123 sq mi)
Elevation
130 m (430 ft)
Population
 (2018-12-31[1])
 • Total13,314
 • Density300/km2 (780/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
931 01
Area code(s)421-31
Car plateDS
Websitewww.samorin.sk

Etymology

The name is derived from a patron saint of a local church Sancta Maria, mentioned for the first time as villa Sancti Marie (1285).[2] Today's name is an adaptation of the original name: Zent Maria – Samaria – Somoria – Šamorín.

Geography

The town is located on the Danubian Flat on Žitný ostrov island, near the Gabčíkovo dam on the Danube. It is located around 17 kilometres (11 miles) southeast of Bratislava and 25 kilometres (16 miles) west of Dunajská Streda. Administratively, the town belongs to the Trnava Region, Dunajská Streda District.

History

The oldest artifacts indicating the settlement of the area are dated to the Neolithic and Eneolithic Period.[3] The settlement of the location is documented also for the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Later archaeologic research (2008) uncovered artifacts from the Early and High Middle Ages (remnants of settlements, dwellings, farm buildings).[3]

After the Mongol invasion, the village was settled by German "guests" who had the leading role in the town administration.[4] The German minority was given a royal privilege to apply Pressburg Law (now Bratislava) and lived in the town until the end of the Middle Ages. The presence of other ethnic groups like Pechenegs and Székelys is also documented.[5]

The settlement was a prominent port on the Danube during the Middle Ages and the market center of Rye Island. Agriculture also played a major role in the town's development. As a result of this prosperity, its citizens enjoyed a brisk trade in the new technologies and many shipyards on the Danube. However, with rise of Pressburg, the importance of the town began declining. Šamorín eventually lost its right to the status of royal free city granted in 1405 during the reign of Hungarian King Sigismund.[3] In the sixteenth century, the city became notable again because of the witch trials held there. After the Austro-Hungarian army disintegrated in November 1918, Czechoslovak troops occupied the area, later acknowledged internationally (contested by Hungary) by the Treaty of Trianon. Between 1938 and 1945 Šamorín (Somorja) once more became a part of Hungary under Miklós Horthy through the First Vienna Award. From 1945 until the Velvet Divorce, it was part of Czechoslovakia. Since then it has been part of Slovakia.

Demography

According to the 2014 census, the municipality had 13,028 inhabitants. In 2011 7,309 (56.1%) of the inhabitants were Hungarians, 4,365 (33.51%) Slovaks, 63 (0.48%) Czechs and 989 others and unspecified.[6]
In 1910, the town has a total population of 2,930, which included 2,699 (92.12%) Hungarians, 112 (3.82%) Germans and 114 (3.89%) Slovaks.[7] According to the 1991 census, ethnic groups included 71% Hungarians and 27.4% Slovaks.
According to the 2001 census, ethnic groups included 66.63% Hungarians and 30.96% Slovaks.

The religious make-up was 75.27% Roman Catholics, 4.42% Protestant, 11.75% without denomination and others.[8]

Landmarks

Municipal division

Šamorín has five districts: Šamorín (hu: Somorja) proper and the villages of Bučuháza (hu: Bucsuháza), Čilistov (hu: Csölösztő), Kráľovianky (hu: Királyfia), and Mliečno (hu: Tejfalu).

Historically incorporated villages
  • 1808: Gančháza
  • 1960: Čilistov
  • 1976: Mliečno

Notable people
  • Livia Bitton-Jackson (born 1931), Holocaust survivor and author, writing a three-part series on her journey from Šamorín to New York City
  • Pál Skriba (1932–2004), Hungarian painter and teacher
  • Tibor Linka (born 1995), sprint canoer, won a gold medal at the 2015 World Championships and a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics

Twin towns — sister cities
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Slovakia

Šamorín is twinned with:[9]

gollark: So time isn't going to reend or something.
gollark: See, it says end of end of time.
gollark: It's fine.
gollark: Odd.
gollark: ++remind 7979y end of end of time

References
Notes
  1. "Population and migration". Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  2. Štefánik, Martin; Lukačka, Ján, eds. (2010). Lexikón stredovekých miest na Slovensku [Lexicon of Medieval Towns in Slovakia] (PDF) (in Slovak). Bratislava: Historický ústav SAV. p. 495. ISBN 978-80-89396-11-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  3. Štefánik & Lukačka 2010, p. 496.
  4. Štefánik & Lukačka 2010, p. 497.
  5. Štefánik & Lukačka 2010, p. 498.
  6. http://portal.statistics.sk/files/obce-narodnost.pdf
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-11-09. Retrieved 2013-02-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Mestská a obecná štatistika SR". Statistics.sk. Archived from the original on February 8, 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
  9. "Partnerské mesta". samorin.sk (in Slovak). Šamorín. Retrieved 2019-09-04.
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