Zólyom county (in Latin: ''comitatus Zoliensis'', in Hungarian ''Zólyom (vár)megye'', in Slovak ''Zvolenský komitát/ Zvolenská stolica/ Zvolenská župa'', in German ''Sohler Gespanschaft/Komitat Sohl'') was an administrative county (

comitatus ''Comitatus'' was in ancient times the Latin term for an armed escort or retinue. The term is used especially in the context of Germanic warrior culture for a warband tied to a leader by an oath of fealty and describes the relations between a lo ...

) of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coronation of the Hungarian monarch, c ...

. Its territory is now in central

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 ...

Geography

Zólyom county shared borders with the counties of Bars, Turóc, Liptó, Gömör-Kishont,

Nógrád Nógrád ( sk, Novohrad; german: Neuburg) is a village in Nógrád County, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, ...

and Hont. The county's territory was situated along the central Garam river, approximately between (excluding) Korpona and (including) Breznóbánya. Its area was 2634 km² around 1910. The county was characterised by extensive mining activities.

Capitals

The capital of the county was the castle of Pusztavár near

Zólyom Zvolen (; hu, Zólyom; german: Altsohl) is a town in central Slovakia, situated on the confluence of Hron and Slatina rivers, close to Banská Bystrica. It is surrounded by Poľana mountain from the East, by Kremnické vrchy from the West a ...

, then from the late 15th century the

Zvolen Castle Zvolen Castle ( sk, Zvolenský zámok or incorrectly , hu, zólyomi vár) is a medieval castle located on a hill near the center of Zvolen, in central Slovakia. It was a part of the Kingdom of Hungary from the 1370's until the Treaty of Trianon ...

( hu, Zólyomi vár) and from the 1760s the town of Besztercebánya.

History

Zólyom county arose as a Hungarian comitatus in the 14th century, when most parts of the territory were conquered by the

, from a huge royal property (the ''Vetusolium dominium''). Initially, it comprised with a territory of the latter separated Árva, Turóc and Liptó counties. In the aftermath of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Zólyom county became part of newly formed

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, as recognized by the concerned states in 1920 by the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in Versailles on 4 June 1920. It forma ...

. The Zvolen county (''Zvolenská župa'') continued to exist until 1927, but it had completely different powers etc. and somewhat different borders. During the existence of the newly created

Slovak State Slovak may refer to: * Something from, related to, or belonging to Slovakia (''Slovenská republika'') * Slovaks The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group ...

(1939-1945), Hron county (''Pohronská župa'') was created in 1940, whose territory roughly corresponded to that of the Zvolen county. The capital was

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other alternative names) is a middle-sized town in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica ...

. Together with the Slovak parts of Hont and Gömör, it became part of the

Banská Bystrica Region The Banská Bystrica Region ( sk, Banskobystrický kraj, ; hu, Besztercebányai kerület, ) is one of the eight regions of Slovakia. It is the largest region by area, and has a lower population density than any other region. The Banská Bystri ...

(''Banskobystrický kraj'') created in 1948. In 1993, Czechoslovakia was split and the Zvolen county became part of Slovakia.

Demographics

Subdivisions

In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Zólyom county were:

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zolyom County Counties in the Kingdom of Hungary