Ilava
Encyclopedia
Ilava is a town in the Trenčín Region
Trencín Region
The Trenčín Region is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. It consists of 9 districts .-Geography:It is located in the north-western Slovakia, has an area of 4,502 km² and a population of 600,386 . The Danubian Lowland reaches the region to Nové Mesto nad Váhom and Partizánske areas...

, northwestern Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

.

Geography

It is located in the Ilava Basin near the Váh
Váh
The Váh is the longest river in entire Slovakia. A left tributary of the Danube river, the Váh is 406 km long, including its Čierny Váh branch...

 river at the foothills of Strážovské vrchy mountains, near the cities of Považská Bystrica
Považská Bystrica
Považská Bystrica is a town in northwestern Slovakia. It is located on the Váh river, around 30 km from the city of Žilina. It belongs to Upper Váh region of tourism.- Profile :...

 and Trenčín
Trencín
Trenčín is a city in western Slovakia of the central Váh River valley near the Czech border, around from Bratislava. It has a population of more than 56,000, which makes it the ninth largest municipality of the country and is the seat of the Trenčín Region and the Trenčín District...

. In addition to the main settlement, it also has "boroughs" of Iliavka and Klobušice (both since 1969, latter with a Classic castle).

History

The first written reference to the town dates from 1332/1337, the town charter stems from 1339. The settlement developed below a Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 castle (bearing the same name) from the 13th century, turned into a Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

 fortification in the 16th century, into a monastery in 1693 and finally, in 1856, into a prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

. A concentration camp was in the prison in 1938.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

, the town had 5,441 inhabitants. 98.1% of inhabitants were Slovaks
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...

, 0.9% Czechs
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...

 and 0.1% Roma and Hungarians. The religious makeup was 87.2% Roman Catholics, 7.9% people with no religious affiliation, and 1.2% Lutherans.

Famous people

It is the birthplace of two-time Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...

 Champion and current Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...

 left winger Tomáš Kopecký
Tomas Kopecky
Tomáš Kopecký is a Slovak professional ice hockey right winger, an alternate captain for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League .- Detroit Red Wings :...

.
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