# Korňa

Korňa (Hungarian: Kornyavölgy) is a village and municipality in Čadca District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia.

## Geography

The scenic village is situated in the Beskydy Mountains, with the closest town being Turzovka. It is located at 18°32′10″ E, 48°24′42″ N, with an elevation above sea level of 559 m (at the community centre). It lies close to the Czech and Polish borderlines. Other nearby communities are the villages of Klokočov and Kelčov [sk].

## Climate

The typical climate for this mountainous area is relatively cool with large annual rainfall. An abnormal amount of snowfall occurred in the winter of 2005/2006, cutting off this village from the rest of the country, which required the military to help the village be dug out.

## Territorial division

Korňa is unofficially divided into three parts - Korňa I, Korňa II, and Korňa III. Fine segmentation used surnames of original owner/keeper of settlement, for example: U Šprčoka, Zlámaná, U Jendriskov, U Gajdoší, U Ďurkáčí, U Zelenkov, Hrtúsov, Dubačí, Sobčákov, Marcov, and so on. A community centre is situated between the municipal office and local church, where there is also guest-houses, apartments, shops, and pubs.

## Speech

The local dialect is a mixture of Slovak, Czech, and Polish loan-words, idioms and terms, drawn from the local - but rarely used now - form of secret language of tinkers craftsmen called "krpoština."

## Building, architecture, attractions, tourism

There are two churches - the original wooden church and the new, modern church from 1994. The primary form of dwelling was rustic wooden cottages. The former wooden pub is now in an open-air museum at Vychylovka; the pub still serves its original purpose. A local natural attraction is Korňa's petroleum spring, which is the highest Central European spontaneous petroleum outflow. Citizens have used this petroleum for lighting purposes.
Korňa is also well known for the Holy Place on Živčák Hill (Živčákova), where in the past century a local man saw Virgin Mary's apparition. Thousands of people yearly go to this place; it is said the water springs have miraculous effects. In the shrine, regular saintly masses are held. One from entry roads goes across Korňa's Calvary. Korňa, which is surrounded by mountains, is a good touris destination and a mushroom collector's paradise. The village has a very promising perspective of agritourism expansion in the near future. A lot of people invest in this area for rusts, cottages and homes.

## Economy and employment

In the past this was a poor region, so a lot of citizens moved abroad. Mass migrations primarily occurred during the inter-war period, where they went to the US, and during the post second world war when they went to the Sudetes (for example Krnov). Due to the inhibiting region's development, people became reserve workers, especially for industrial areas at northern Moravia and in the region of Žilina. People often left their homes to find work.

## Transport

The hilly terrain gives usually only the opportunity to reach the village using the route of Turzovka - Klokočov. Going from Makov is a possible entrance through the village Kelčov, but parts of the way is forest and off-road is strongly recommended. There is a bus connection from Turzovka to the railroad Čadca - Žilina.

## History

Until 1954, Korňa was a borough of the municipality named Turzovka. Turzovka used to be the largest "village" municipality in the entire former Czechoslovakia. Current Korňa was formed by incorporating two boroughs of Lower Korňa (Nižná Korňa) and Upper Korňa (Vyšná Korňa) into a single municipality, currently subdivided into three administrative boroughs.

## Genealogical resources

The records for genealogical research are available at the state archive "Statny Archiv in Bytca, Slovakia"