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Nitra (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈɲitra] ⓘ; also known by other alternative names) (Hungarian: Nyitra) is a city in southwestern Slovakia, situated at the foot of the Zobor Mountain in the Nitra River Valley about 90 km (56 mi) northeast of the country's capital, Bratislava. With a population of about 78,353, it is the fifth-largest city in Slovakia. Nitra stands on varied terrain, which features both rolling hills and vast plains, particularly to the south. Nitra is one of the oldest cities in Slovakia. It was the center of the Principality of Nitra, a duchy of great historic significance. Today, the city serves as the administrative center of Nitra Region (kraj) and Nitra District (okres). Nitra is the agricultural capital of Slovakia due to its long tradition of farming, favorable climate, and geography.
The first mention of Nitra dates back to the 9th century. The name of the city is derived from the Nitra River. The name is Indo-European, but the question of its pre-Slavic or Slavic origin has not been satisfactorily answered. Nitra might be derived from the old Indo-European root neit-, nit- 'to cut' or 'to burn' using the derivational element -r- (see also slash-and-burn agricultural technique). The same root is still present in the Slovak verb nietiť 'to make a fire', but also in other Indo-European languages like Latin nitere 'to burn' or in German schneiden 'to cut'. Another view of the origin of the name is related to Latin Novi-iter or Neui-iter 'new territory behind the limes'. The hypothetical Latin name could have been adopted by the Quadi and later by the Slavs.
The first written records also contain the suffix -ava (Nitrava). Particularly in older literature, the suffix is interpreted as deriving from the Proto-Germanic root *ahwa 'water'. However, the suffix -ava can also be found in numerous toponyms with a clearly Slavic origin and without any relationship to rivers. The existence of the hydronym Nitrava remains hypothetical and all versions with the suffix are related to a location, not a river. Thus, the form Nitrava can refer to a larger property or territory around the Nitra River. Both forms were probably used concurrently and were already recorded in the 9th century (Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum: in loco vocata Nitraua, but in 880 ecclesie Nitrensis).
The name in different languages includes Latin: Nitria, German: Neutra (pronunciationⓘ), and Hungarian: Nyitra and Nyitria.
The oldest archaeological findings in Nitra are dated to around 25,000-30,000 years ago. The locality has been inhabited in all historical periods in the last 5,000-7,000 years. Several European archaeological cultures and groups were named after important archaeological discoveries in Nitra or its near surroundings - Nitra culture, Brodzany-Nitra group, or Lužianky group of Lengyel culture.
The people of Madarovce culture had built the first fortification on Castle Hill by around 1,600 BCE. In the Iron Age, a large hillfort was built on Zobor Hill and additional smaller hillforts on the Lupka Hill and in Dražovce (700-500 BCE). Several Celtic settlements are known from the 5th-1st centuries. The Celts minted silver tetradrachms known as coins of the Nitra type and probably also built a hillfort in the locality Na Vŕšku. In the Roman period (1st-4th centuries CE), the Germanic tribe of Quadi settled in the area, which is also mentioned as their possible capital (396 CE). The largest Germanic settlement from the migration period in the territory of modern-day Slovakia was unearthed in Nitra-Párovské Háje.
The first Slavs arrived in the territory of present Slovakia at the end of the 5th and early 6th centuries. The early Slavs settled mainly in the lowlands near the water flows; the highest density of their settlements is documented just in the area of Nitra. As the Avars expanded into the territory of modern-day Slovakia in the latter half of the 7th century and early 8th century, the border between Slavic and Slavo-Avaric territory shifted toward Nitra. A biritual cemetery in Nitra-Dolné Krškany lies on the northern border of the mixed settlement area.
The importance of Nitra for the Slavs began to grow in the 8th century, and thereafter it evolved to the administrative centre of the wider region. Nitra became the center of the Principality of Nitra. Three of the eleven extant copies of the Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum contain a reference to a church consecrated for Pribina in his domain called Nitrava. The problem of Pribina's church and the dating of this event was addressed by numerous scholars; most of them do not doubt the reliability of the information and associate this event with Nitra. In 833, Pribina was ousted by the Moravian prince Mojmír I and both regions were united into the early medieval empire of Great Moravia.
In the 9th century, Nitra was one of the largest agglomerations in Central Europe. The agglomeration consisted of fortified centres and more than twenty non-fortified villages. It spread out on a territory exceeding the present town. The Slavs, Slovak ancestors, built a large castle on an area of 8.5 hectares (21 acres). on Castle Hill,. Further important locations, Na vŕšku and Martinský Vrch, were probably also fortified. Other hills, some of them fortified already in prehistoric times, had a guarding and refuge function. Surrounding villages were used as an agricultural hinterland for the princely retinue and for specialised production (jewellery production, forges, pottery kilns, etc.). More than forty burial sites are documented on 20 km (12 mi)2. In all burial sites, exclusively inhumation rite (compliant with Christian belief) was practised, instead of cremation, typical for earlier Slavs. The known necropolises with military equipment around the perimeter of the agglomeration probably belonged to the settlements guarding access roads to the centre.
The city reached its height during the reign of Svätopluk I. During his rule, the first known Christian bishopric in Slovakia was established in Nitra in 880 (with Wiching as the bishop). The question of the origin of the Monastery of St. Hippolytus (the oldest Benedictine Monastery in Kingdom of Hungary) has not been sufficiently answered yet. Even if findings of ceramics documented a settlement in the location, its character is unclear.
The development of Nitra was temporarily slowed down after the disintegration of Great Moravia. However, Nitra did not follow the fate of other prominent Great Moravian centres (Mikulčice-Valy, Pohansko, Staré Město-Uherské Hradište), and until the 13th century it preserved its status as a prestigious centre. According to older assumptions, Nitra should have been occupied by masses of Magyar (Hungarian) units, predictably followed by significant destruction of the previous settlements. However, later archaeological research does not support this theory. The extinction horizon (e.g., destruction by fire) is not documented for any known settlement, and the continuity between the graveyards from different periods remained high. In the 10th century, the settlement structure was not affected by any observable destruction process or significant change in the ethnic composition. The continuity of Slavic settlements and economic infrastructure was preserved. Archaeological evidence pointing to an early presence of Magyars directly in Nitra has not been found yet, except for the warrior grave in Nitra-Mlynárce. Paradoxically, their presence is documented north of Nitra (Čakajovce) and from peripheral areas with more rural character, where they joined the majority Slavic population. Here, their members were buried together with the Slavs in common graveyards. Later, both cultures merged into the common Bijelo Brdo culture, with ethnic-specific attributes fading away.
Political affiliation of the territory in the 10th and the early 11th century is unclear – the influence of the Hungarian Árpáds, the Czech Přemyslids, and the Polish Piasts is being considered. Finally, Nitra became an integral part of the Kingdom of Hungary and the seat of several Árpáds princes. The town survived the invasion of Mongols in 1241. In 1248, Béla IV gave Nitra the privileges of a free royal town. In 1271–1272, Nitra was heavily damaged by the Czech king Ottakar II. The raids also damaged the bishop's property and, therefore, as compensation, Nitra was put under his administration in 1288. The town lost its royal privileges, and in the next centuries, it was unable to recover, mainly because of frequent military conflicts.
In the early 14th century, the town and the castle were damaged several times by Matthew III Csák. In the conflict between the king and oligarchy, the bishop of Nitra remained loyal to the king. In 1313, the king confirmed bishopric privileges and extended them for the right to administer not only Nitra, but the whole Nitra County.
The town became a target of Hussite attacks in the 15th century, at the time defended by Ispán of Nitra county, Stibor of Stiboricz, and later his son Stibor de Beckov. After the Hungarian defeat at the Battle of Mohács in 1526 and subsequent Ottoman advances into the Hungarian territory, Nitra was under threat of Ottoman attacks. In 1563, the town became the seat of the Captaincy of Lower Hungary. The Turkish forces failed to capture the castle three times before they conquered it in 1663. Habsburg troops under Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches recaptured it on 2 May 1664 before the Battle of Léva. The Turks returned at the start of the Great Turkish War and held the town until 1685. The town was also affected by anti-Habsburg uprisings, from Stephen Bocskay and Gabriel Bethlen uprisings in the 17th century to the Kuruc uprisings from 1703 to 1711, and the town burned down in 1708 as a result of fights. It was renovated in the 18th century in the Baroque style. As a consequence of the Revolutions of 1848, Nitra was awarded an independent self-government for the first time since 1288 and became independent from the Diocese of Nitra and its bishops. Still an agricultural and handicraft town, Nitra started to industrialize. Before World War I, a distillery, an agricultural machinery factory, a brewery, a dairy, and other works were established. The first indirect connection to a railway was a road built in 1850 to the closest station in Trnovec nad Váhom. The railway arrived in Nitra in 1876, when a connection from Šurany was built. Later, lines were built to Topoľčany, Hlohovec and Nové Zámky. As a part of Magyarization, from 1883 to 1919, Nitra was the seat of the Upper Hungarian Teaching Association (FEMKE), a government-sponsored association whose main goal was to apply Magyarization policies on Slovaks.
After World War I and in the atmosphere of postwar chaos and rising anarchy, the Hungarian National Council in Nitra decided to negotiate with the Czechoslovak Army, pushing out Hungarian military forces and police from the territory of present Slovakia. The Hungarian National Council and the Town Council needed the Czechoslovak Army to restore public order, but hoped that the situation was only temporary and formally protested against the "occupation" on 10 December 1918. However, the town became a part of Czechoslovakia. Nitra continued to be the seat of the Nitra county until it was dissolved in 1928. In 1933, Nitra played an important role in the Slovak autonomist movement when Pribina's Celebration (the anniversary of the consecration of the first Christian church) turned into the largest demonstration against Czechoslovakism.
After the break-up of Czechoslovakia in 1939, Nitra became a part of the First Slovak Republic and once again a seat of Nitra county until 1945. The period of the First Slovak Republic was tragic for the Jewish population of Nitra, which was first victimized by the anti-Jewish law and then mostly exterminated in German concentration camps (90% of Jewish citizens). The city was liberated by the Soviet Red Army in 1945, for only three years of restored democracy in Czechoslovakia.
Slovak historians believe that Nitra is the location of the oldest Slovak Jewish community.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Nitra”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.