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town in the Prešov Region in eastern Slovakia
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Humenné (pronunciationⓘ; Hungarian: Homonna; Ukrainian: Гуменне) is a town in the Prešov Region ("kraj") in eastern Slovakia and the second largest town of the historic Zemplín region. It lies at the volcanic Vihorlat mountains and at the confluence of the Laborec and Cirocha Rivers.
The municipality lies at an altitude of 155 metres (509 ft) and covers an area of 32.26 km2 (12.46 sq mi) ().
The name comes from a common Slavic word "humno" (gumьno). In Slovak "backyard", the exact meaning may differ in dialects. Initially, a female adjective (1322 Homonna, 1332 Humenna, 1381 Humenna, 1391 Humonna) then neutrum Humenné.
Humenné is the center of one of the easternmost districts ("okres") in Slovakia. The most attractive places are the Vihorlat Mountains boasting of their Morské oko lake, and the Bukovské vrchy (section of the Bieszczady Mountains) at the border of Slovakia, Poland, and Ukraine, which are part of the Poloniny National Park. Humenné is surrounded by ruins of medieval castles and an open-air museum of architecture situated in the town park.
Castles and mansions near Humenné:
The Laborec River and the Carpathian Mountains predetermined the development of the town and its surroundings, a silent witness of which has been the volcano Vihorlat – with a summit elevation of 1,075 metres (3,527 ft), the highest point of the Vihorlat mountains. Thanks to its advantageous location and pleasant climate, preconditioned by the neighboring mountains, the town has been an attractive place for people since the Stone Age, which is evidenced by several archaeological findings. The Slavic forefathers of the Slovaks gradually moved to the basin of Humenné during the great migration of peoples, starting in the 5th century.
An intensive and organized settlement of this area started as late as the middle of the 13th century, after the Mongol raids. The first written document mentioning Humenné dates back to 1317. The history of Humenné is closely connected with the Drugeth (Drugets, Drugetovci), a distinguished aristocratic family originally from Naples, who, accompanying the king Charles Robert of Anjou, came to the Kingdom of Hungary (the territory of present-day Slovakia was part of the Kingdom of Hungary) at the beginning of the 14th century. The Drugeths made Humenné their seat and changed it into the centre of one of the largest feudal dominions in Upper-Hungary. King Matthias Corvinus conferred civic privileges (town status) on the town, which were validated by a seal with coat of arms. At that time, the town was crossed by an important trade route connecting the Kingdom of Hungary with the Kingdom of Poland. Humenné is mentioned among royal customs offices, and later on, it received the right of storehousing and supposedly market rights, too. This was also the time of an ever-increasing influence of shepherd colonization from Transcarpathia by the so-called Walachians (Ruthenes, Poles, and Romanians).
The most significant town monument, a Renaissance castle, was built on the place of an original stone castle in about 1610. The castle came to be an indispensable characteristic feature of the town and serves as a museum and cultural site at present.
In 1613, during the Counter Reformation, a Jesuit college was established as the first secondary school in the history of Humenné.
In 1619, about 10,000 Polish riders—a lisowczycy—led by Walenty Rogawski, defeated the army of George I Rákóczi in Battle of Humenné. Rákóczi was an insurgent against the Habsburgs and an ally of Gábor Bethlen, Duke of Transylvania.
The Drugeth line died out in 1684, and new feudal lords moved in, notably the Csákys and the Wandernats.
The abolition of some feudal duties and the reforms of Maria Theresa promoted the development of crafts, and Humenné became the seat of the so-called "salt office". The town's population consisted of Slovaks, Ruthenes, Hungarians and Jews. Latin was used as the administrative language, which appeared to be a stabilizing factor in such a mixture of nationalities.
The Andrássy family from Transylvania started to influence the history of Humenné in the 19th century, a period characterized by economic growth. Moreover, many new buildings were erected at that time. The main fields of activity of town inhabitants were agriculture, crafts, and trade. The first train appeared in Humenné in 1871, stimulating the development of trade and wood cutting. In 1899, the first business academy in Austria-Hungary was established in Humenné. Toward the end of the 19th century, Humenné counted 4,000 inhabitants.
The 20th century brought along a cultural revival. Humenné was famous for its markets and fairs. This promising, though timid, development was interrupted by World War I. A short period of the existence of Czechoslovakia between the two world wars proved to have positive effects upon the life of Humenné. As a corollary of World War II, however, all the effort had to start from the very beginning. On 26 November 1944, Humenné was captured by troops of the Soviet 18th Army, acting as a part of the 4th Ukrainian Front, after which the town became again part of Czechoslovakia.
Until 1956, Humenné was an administrative rather than an economic centre. Then the construction of a plant for the production of textile polyamide fibres, the present Chemlon company, triggered a real chain effect on the town's growth. Humenné was gradually becoming a centre of chemical, building, food, and mechanical engineering industries. This had a positive impact on the development of technical colleges. The industrial development entailed large-scale housing projects, and the town area was completed by new housing estates. While 7,000 inhabitants were living in Humenné in 1948, the population now amounts to over 33,000.
It has a population of 29,179 people (31 December 2025).
In year 2021 was 31,359 people by ethnicity 26,965 as Slovak, 3677 as Rusyn, 2968 as Not found out, 373 as Romani, 302 as Ukrainian, 230 as Czech, 80 as Other, 76 as Hungarian, 49 as Polish, 45 as Russian, 35 as Vietnamese, 15 as German, 15 as English, 10 as Moravian, 7 as Irish, 7 as Italian, 7 as Serbian, 4 as Jewish, 4 as Austrian, 4 as Greek, 3 as Romanian, 3 as French, 3 as Croatian, 3 as Bulgarian, 1 as Turkish, 1 as Silesian and 1 as Canadian.
Note on population: The difference values of population numbers in the table "Population statistic" and in the sections "Ethnicity" & "Religion" is caused by the use of various statistical methods.
In 1910, 48.6% were Roman Catholic, 34.8% Jewish, 12.3% Greek Catholic, while 38.2% reported Hungarian as their primary language, 30.8% Slovak, and 21.1% Yiddish or German.
In year 2021 was 31,359 people by religion 15,290 from Roman Catholic Church, 6486 from Greek Catholic Church, 4246 from None, 2882 from Not found out, 1542 from Eastern Orthodox Church, 253 from Evangelical Church, 134 from Apostolic Church, 104 from Jehovah's Witnesses, 93 from Calvinist Church, 79 from Ad hoc movements, 66 from Other, 50 from Christian Congregations in Slovakia, 40 from Buddhism, 30 from Other and not ascertained christian church, 11 from Paganism and natural spirituality, 10 from Islam, 9 from Jewish community, 9 from Church of the Brethren, 6 from Seventh-day Adventist Church, 4 from Old Catholic Church, 4 from United Methodist Church, 3 from Hinduism, 3 from Czechoslovak Hussite Church, 2 from Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2 from Bahá'i Community and 1 from Baptists Church.
Humenné had one club with top flight history: FC Chemlon Humenné, winning the Slovak Cup in 1996. FC Chemlon also played UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in the 1996–97 season. The club had a more turbulent time during its name changes as HFC Humenné, 1. HFC Humenné and ŠK Futura Humenné and could not replicate its success as Chemlon. In August 2015, the licence of ŠK Futura was bought by FK Drustav Svidník, but the Slovak Football Association rules do not allow for changing club names only a few days before the start of the season. The Svidník club also announced a merger between FK Drustav and ŠK Futura within one year, with a new name.
FK Humenné is the second club in Humenné, established in 2003, playing home matches at the Ihrisko pri Mlyne Stadium, they currently play in the 4th division.
Humenné had one of the most successful teams in Slovak volleyball, VK Chemes Humenné. Due to a dispute about finances between the owner and the town, the club was transferred to another town: Spišká Nová Ves. Nowadays, there is no volleyball club in Humenné.
The city's ice hockey club is MHK Humenné, which competes in Slovak 1.Liga (2nd level).
Humenné is twinned with:
Text from the Wikipedia article “Humenné”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.