Mezei István: Urban development in Slovakia (Pécs-Somorja, 2010)

2. Towns in Felvidék (Upper Hungary) before 1918

Towns in Felvidék (Upper Hungary) before 1918

márton [Martin], Trencsén [Trenčín], Rimaszombat [Rimavská Sobota], Ipolyság [Šahy], Nagytapolcsány [Topoľčany], Privigye [Prievidza], Németpróna [Nitrianske Pravno], Nyitrabánya [Handlová], Alsókubin [Dolný Kubín], Námesztó [Námestovo], Tresztena [Trstená] and Csaca [Čadca] were categorized as towns with some urban role. The towns Vágújhely [Nové Mesto nad Váhom], Aranyosmarót [Zlaté Moravce] and Pelsőc [Plešivec], as well as Fülek [Fiľakovo], which could be listed in either of the latter categories, were called a kind of market town. Rózsahegy [Ružomberok], Zólyom [Zvolen] and Losonc [Lučenec] were basin centres and Zsolna [Žilina] a town at the foot of the mountain pass.

Besztercebánya [Banská Bystrica] and Eperjes [Prešov] represented a higher level of varied urban life. There was only one town in Felvidék that could be called an actual town and it was Kassa [Košice], because at the time they were writing their book Pozsony [Bratislava] had seemed to lose importance compared with Vienna. Besides, it had belonged to the Small Hungarian Plain for centuries rather than to Felvidék. Apart from Kassa [Košice], Nyitra [Nitra] and Léva [Levice] were real market towns in the area that belongs to Slovakia today, but Homonna [Humenné], Varannó [Vranov nad Topľou] and Nagymihály [Michalovce], which had not really obtained the status of a market town, were also included in this category. The two authors look upon the latter three towns as parts of Northeastern Felvidék, rather than Northwestern Felvidék, which has been dealt with so far.

Consequently, the large-scale changes of the era of the Austro- Hungarian Monarchy affected Felvidék (Upper Hungary) negatively, but discovering and taking opportunities and adjusting to the new conditions had become tasks for the new state to solve after the collapse of historical Hungary.

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