Abov

Abov in Slovakia

Abov (Hungarian: Abaúj) is historically the Slovak name of a county in the Kingdom of Hungary (see the Abaúj article for that county). Today, it is an informal designation of the part of that county situated in Slovakia, as well as the official name of one of Slovakia's tourist regions (situated in that territory). The southern half of the former county is part of modern Hungary.

Geography

Abov is situated some 20 km to both sides along the Hornád river (in Hungarian: Hernád) around Košice.

History

The (whole) county arose in the second half of the 13th century from the comitatus Novi Castri (named after Novum Castrum, today Abaújvár), which also included the later counties Šariš and Heves. In 1882, the county was merged with the small Turňa county and has existed as the Abov-Turňa (in Hungarian: Abaúj-Torna) county since. This Abov-Turňa county previously existed temporarily in 1785-1790 and 1848-1859.

In 1918 (confirmed by the Treaty of Trianon in 1920), the northern half of the county (including Košice) became part of newly formed Czechoslovakia and continued to exist as an administrative unit till 1922 (Abovskoturnianska župa).

During World War II, when Czechoslovakia was temporarily split, most of the Czechoslovak part of the county was returned to Hungary under the First Vienna Award, and added to the county Abaúj-Torna, with capital Košice. After World War II, the pre-war border was restored.