| Trstená, Slovakia | |
| Slovakia | |
| Town | |
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Main square of Trstená
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| Country | Slovakia |
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| Region | Žilina |
| Elevation | 607 m (1,991 ft) |
| Coordinates | |
| Area | 82.540 km2 (31.869 sq mi) |
| Population | 7,551 (2005-12-31) |
| Density | 91 / km2 (236 / sq mi) |
| First mentioned | 1371 |
| Mayor | Jozef Ďubjak |
| Timezone | CET (UTC+1) |
| - summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
| Postal code | 028 01 |
| Area code | +421-43 |
| Car plate | TS |
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Location of Trstená in Slovakia
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Location of Trstená in the Žilina Region
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| Wikimedia Commons: Trstená | |
| Statistics: MOŠ/MIS | |
| Website: www.trstena.sk | |
Trstená (Hungarian Trsztena; Polish Trzciana; Middle German B[r]ingenstadt) is a city in Tvrdošín District, Žilina Region, central Slovakia.
It was first mentioned historically in 1371. It is a town that is nestled along the Orava River in the Slovak region of Orava.
Trstená lies only a few kilometres from the Polish border. The Tatra Mountains loom to the east over rolling hills of open fields bordered by dense forests. The town lies on a road that leads directly to Poland and has a steady flow of semi-trucks from all over Europe.
A major employer of Trstená is the Matsushita Corporation. They manufacture components for Panasonic in a new state-of-the-art facility.
Trstená had suffered some damage during the Second World War from the approaching Russians who shelled the town before taking it from the Germans.
The town had a Jewish Community before the War which is no longer present. The only remaining signs of their existence are an overgrown Jewish cemetery outside of Trstená, and an old Synagogue that is now a shoe store.
The town has enjoyed an economic surge since cross-border commerce has picked up with Slovakia and Poland both becoming members in the European Union.
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Trstená's main church, St Martin's, has an interesting recent history. The first thing that strikes visitors is its unusual turreted spire. This is a fairly recent addition: the previous, more traditional, spire was dislodged during fighting at the end of World War II. It's believed to have fallen victim to a poorly aimed 'Katyusha' rocket, though the Russians still get a traditional thank you for liberating the town in the form of a memorial in the main square. The spire that replaced it, which is being converted to allow tours and should make for a good viewpoint, was modelled on a Czech church. It's not the only sign of change. St Martin's is surrounded by a wall, along the inside of which are what appear to be a series of odd little seats. Upon closer inspection, they turn out to be more than half a dozen outdoor confessionals. The church was once the object of pilgrimages and attracted so many worshippers, who came to witness a particularly revered painting, that the church's indoor arrangements proved insufficient: this novel solution allowed teams of priests to hear the confessions of pilgrims out in the open.
Also worth a look in Trstená is the town's former synagogue, in a street behind the town's main Roháč Hotel. Its exterior has been well-maintained in pale blue and white; inside it now hosts a discount shoe store. Even more impressive, if you have time and a sense of adventure, is the abandoned Jewish cemetery just out of town, on a steep hill above the main road to nearby Tvrdošín. In what now seems like an improbably out-of-the-way place (go past the elephant-adorned building supplies store and look for a steep, overgrown track on your right; there are no signs and you will need some determination to make it through the undergrowth to the almost hidden walled cemetery) are dozens of headstones, most of them toppled or leaning at crazy angles. Many are in Hebrew; the ones with Roman script poignantly record the lives of local Jews like Ignatz Stein (d. 1931) as late as the 1930s, after which the record falls silent
According to the 2001 census, the town had 7,461 inhabitants. 98.82% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 0.42% Polish and 0.32% Czechs.[1] The religious make-up was 94.33% Roman Catholics, 3.26% people with no religious affiliation and 0.78% Lutherans.[1]
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