Snina (, ) is a town in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

located at the confluence of the

Cirocha Cirocha (; ) is a right tributary of the river Laborec in the Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia. It is long and its drainage basin size is .Pčolinka in the valley between the Bukovec Mountains foothills and the

Vihorlat Mountains Vihorlat Mountains (; , ''Vyhorliat,'' Hungarian: Vihorlát) or colloquially Vihorlat is a volcanic mountain range in eastern Slovakia and western Ukraine. A part of the range is listed as a World Heritage Site. Etymology The name is of Sla ...

. It is the closest town with rail and bus connections to Poloniny National Park.

History

The oldest written records mentioning Snina date back to 1317. Snina as an ''

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (: ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age Europe, Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celts, Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread acros ...

'' (small town) is mentioned in ''port'' records ("porta" means the gate into a courtyard) beginning in 1585. In 1598 the first census of houses was made and there were 75 houses in the town at that time. Between 1570 and 1630, it is evident from ''port'' records that Snina was the seat of the regional ''krajňa'', or administrative district for the surrounding villages. In 1646 Snina was called "Szinna Varossa" and later "Civitas Szinna" in the archives. In 1785 Snina had 195 houses and 1,430 inhabitants. The town's rulers from 1321 to 1684 were from the Drugeth family, who came from

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

near

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. Later, the owner of the lordship of Snina was Terézia van Dernáthová, who was the granddaughter of Žigmung Drugeth. After her death in 1799, her five sons sold all the property to a businessman from Gemer named Jozef Rholl. His children developed the region until 1857. They built an iron and steel works in the Jozef valley in 1809. Starting in 1839 a traditional market took place in Snina four times a year, which aided the development of business and trade. An iron foundry was built in the Jozef valley in 1841. A well-known moulded statue of Hercules was placed next to the Snina manor-house and is the emblem of Snina to this day. During a decline in business in 1873, the iron and steel works completely vanished, so life for the citizens of Snina and its vicinity worsened rapidly and large-scale migration began. They left their homes and went to the United States, Canada and

western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

. In 1876 Snina was a residence of the 10th region of the Zemplín area. The

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

classicist church from 1751 was modified at the beginning of the 19th century. A classicist Calvary in the cemetery dates from 1847, and features the Chapel of Virgin Mary. There is a manor-house from 1800 in the town set in a planned historical park, which is from the 19th century. In the courtyard of the manor-house is a public fountain with a well-known statue of Hercules from 1841. In the church's park there are monuments from World War II. There are also two military cemeteries from World War I near the town (Giglov has 130 graves of soldiers and Brehy has 153). Before the establishment of independent

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

in 1918, Snina was part of

Zemplén County Zemplén (, , , ) was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. The northern part of its territory is now situated in eastern Slovakia (Zemplín (region), Zemplín region), while a smaller so ...

within the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. From 1939 to 1944 it was part of the

Slovak Republic Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's ...

. On 25 November 1944 the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

entered Snina and it was again part of Czechoslovakia. On May 1, 1949, construction of the Vihorlat Enterprise began, and production started on July 15, 1951. The construction and extension of the enterprise, which was aimed at medium heavy engineering production, created further employment opportunities in construction organisations, services and trade. Along with the development of industry and services, housing developed. Housing estates and new family houses were constructed. The largest number of flats and family houses were built here between 1975 and 1990 for families displaced by the construction of the Starina reservoir, when the inhabitants of seven villages had to be moved out.

Demographics

According to the 2001

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, the town had 21,235 inhabitants. 86.78% of inhabitants were

Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...

, 5.84%

Rusyns Rusyns, also known as Carpatho-Rusyns, Carpatho-Russians, Ruthenians, or Rusnaks, are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group from the Carpathian Rus', Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn language, Rusyn, an East Slavic lan ...

, 2.51% Ukrainian, 1.86% Roma and 0.58%

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

. The religious make-up was 56.03%

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, 19.21% Greek Catholics, 13.59% Orthodox, 5.90% people with no religious affiliation and 0.30%

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

Twin towns — sister cities

Snina is twinned with: * Boguchwała,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

* Khust,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Kremenchuk Kremenchuk (; , , also spelt Kremenchug, ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The city serves as the administrative center of Kremenchuk Raion and Kremenchuk urban hromada within ...

* Lesko,

* Prague 4,

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

* Seferihisar,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Tokaj Tokaj () is a historical town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary, 54 kilometers from county capital Miskolc. It is the centre of the Tokaj-Hegyalja wine district where Tokaji wine is produced. History The wine-growing area ...

, Hungary * Žarošice, Czech Republic

Surroundings

Sninský kameň (1005 m), the most visited mountain of the Vihorlat mountain range, is located from Snina. It is a protected natural formation which dominates the southern sky-line. This rock formation consists of two andesite blocks. The nearby surroundings abound in rare endemic flora. Marked trails from Snina lead to the top. Morské oko is a lake located in the Vihorlat Mountains in the east of Slovakia. Beautiful wooden churches can be found in several villages of the Snina region: Ruský Potok, Uličské Krivé, Kalná Roztoka, Topoľa and Hrabová Roztoka. A ski-lift in Parihuzovce is from Snina. On Magurica Mountain, there is a broadcasting tower of non-standard design. It is a 104 metres tall lattice tower with hexagonal cross section.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities and towns in Slovakia Villages and municipalities in Snina District Zemplín (region)