Ilava (german: Illau, hu, Illava) is a town in the

Trenčín Region The Trenčín Region ( sk, Trenčiansky kraj, ; cs, Trenčínský kraj; hu, Trencséni kerület) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. It consists of 9 districts ('' okresy''). The region was established in 1996: previously it had ...

, northwestern

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

Name

The name is of uncertain origin. The historic medieval names were ''Lewe'', ''Lewa'' (the same historic name as

Levice Levice (; hu, Léva, Hungarian pronunciation: ; german: Lewenz, literally lionesses) is a town in western Slovakia. The town lies on the left bank of the lower Hron river. The Old Slavic name of the town was ''Leva'', which means "the Left On ...

), ''Lewa de cidca fluviom Vag'', later ''Ilava''. The form ''Illava'' is known from the 19th century and was used after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867.

Geography

It is located in the Ilava Basin near the

Váh The Váh (; german: Waag, ; hu, Vág; pl, WagWag
w Słowniku geograficznym Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów ...

river at the foothills of Strážovské vrchy mountains, near the cities of

Považská Bystrica Považská Bystrica (; german: Waagbistritz; hu, Vágbeszterce) is a town in northwestern Slovakia. It is located on the Váh river, around 30 km from the city of Žilina. It belongs to Upper Váh region of tourism. Profile Považská B ...

and

Trenčín Trenčín (, also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia of the central Váh River valley near the Czech border, around from Bratislava. It has a population of more than 55,000, which makes it the eighth largest muni ...

. In addition to the main settlement, it also has "boroughs" of Iliavka and Klobušice (both since 1969, latter with a Classic castle).

History

The first written reference to the town dates from 1332/1337, the town charter stems from 1339. The settlement developed below a Gothic castle (bearing the same name) from the 13th century, turned into a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

fortification in the 16th century, into a monastery in 1693 and finally, in 1856, into a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

. A

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

was in the prison in 1938. In 1431 was the battle of Ilava between the

Hussites The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Huss ...

and

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...

Demographics

According to the 2001

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, the town had 5,441 inhabitants. 98.1% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 0.9%

Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...

and 0.1% Roma and

. The religious makeup was 87.2% Roman Catholics, 7.9% people with no religious affiliation, and 1.2%

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

Notable people

* Two-time Stanley Cup Champion and retired Florida Panthers left winger Tomáš Kopecký *

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

left winger

Tomáš Tatar Tomáš Tatar (; born 1 December 1990) is a Slovak professional ice hockey left winger for the New Jersey Devils in the National Hockey League (NHL). Tatar was drafted 60th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Playin ...

* Rastislav Blaško, former vice-chairman of Social Democratic Party of Slovakia born in Ilava in 1971, lived in Ladce from 1971 to 1979, in Nová Dubnica from 1979 to 1987 and in Ilava from 1987 to 2001. He is holder of twice bronze medal for 3rd place as the staff member of Slovak FootGolf National Team at the 2. European Team FootGolf Championship EURO FOOTGOLF 2019 in United Kingdom, England and 2021 in Hungary.

Twin towns — sister cities

Ilava is twinned with: *

Győr Győr ( , ; german: Raab, links=no; names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia region, and – halfway between Budapest and Vienna – situated on one of ...

, Hungary * Klimkovice, Czech Republic *

Mikołów Mikołów (german: Nikolai, szl, Mikołōw) is a town in Silesia, in southern Poland, near the city of Katowice. It borders the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, a metropolis with a population of over 2 million, and is within a greater Silesia ...