Pavlovce nad Uhom
Pavlovce nad Uhom (Romani: "Pavlovcis", ) is a village and municipality in the Slovak district of Michalovce, which lies in the Eastern Slovak Kosice Region. Roughly 19 kilometers southeast of the town of Michalovce, Pavlovce sits, as its name indicates, on the south bank of the Uzh River (), about eight kilometers west of the border with Ukraine. The population of the village is around 4,500 inhabitants. Apart from the village itself, which predates medieval times, the municipality Pavlovce nad Uhom was established in 1960 by union of two separate municipalities – Pavlovce nad Uhom and Ťahyňa. History. After decay  of Great Moravian Empire, Slovak territory including East Slovak Lowland became part of Kingdom of Hungary for next to near thousand years. Its territory became colonized by Hungarians, in three phases, who have sequentially mixed with native Slavic and Slovak population. New guarding posts, settlements of strategical importance started to grow up on border lines of young Kingdom of Hungary. According to professor Ferdinant Uličný, Pavlovce nad Uhom was established by watch-keeping units of The Cumans (in Russian: Половцы – Polovtsi, Polovci; in Slovak: Plavci). Captured Cumans were forced to carry out watch-keeping military service. The name Pavlovce, Plavce  was not given to early settlement by The Cumans themselves but Slovak inhabitants and Hungarian nobles during the following decades. On the other hand, others stand for different explanation, that the name was derived from popular Slavic name Pavol. The first written record of the municipality dates to 1327 when Charles I of Hungary in his donation agreement confirmed ownership of Pavlovce in favor of Peter called Túz. In 1417, for the merits of Matthew II of Pavlovce (?-1437) and George of Pavlovce (?-10.4.1439, Esztergom), members of noble family from Pavlovce (de Palócz), emperor Sigismund, Sigismund of Luxembourg rewarded the  two brothers with confirmation of their ownership. In 15th and 16th century, Pavlovce became the center of manor consisting of surrounding municipalities such as: Bežovce, Blatná Polianka, Čabraď (pri Bežovciach), Chyzzer (pri Bajanoch), Kapušianske Kľačany, Iňačovce, Rebrín, Senné, Tašuľa a Záhor. Later, in 1670, manor of Blatný potok (Sárospatak) was attached. Noble family of Pavlovce vanished in mail tail by the death of Anton of Pavlovce (?-29.8.1526) in Battle of Mohács in 1526. Noble family Dobó de Ruzska became new legitimate owner of Pavlovce manor. In the 17th century, reformation movement was spreading through Kingdom of Hungary, anti-Turkish and  anti-Habsburg wars took place negatively affecting local population with camping armies and heavy taxes. In 1670, the municipality lost its owner Mikuláš Forgáč and was consequently divided among few nobles such as George and Imrich Horváth of Pavlovce. In 1711, after Treaty of Szatmár, the followers of Francis II Rákóczi (1676–1735) were forced, under the threat of losing wealth or exile, to swear allegiance to the king. This was the case of two nobles to whom Pavlovce belonged, Francis Barkóci and George Horváth. Geography. The village lies at an altitude of 108 metres and covers an area of 33.420  km. It has a population of 4 439 people. List of neighboring villages includes: North- Senné and Bežovce, South- Veškovce, Čierne pole and Krišovská Liesková, East- Vysoká nad Uhom and Bajany, West- Stretavka and Stretava. The municipality used to be part of Ung County during epoch of Kingdom of Hungary. Pavlovce nad Uhom as we know it today was created in 1960 by merge of Pavlovce nad Uhom and Ťahyňa. Demographics. According to 2008 data, the majority of the population of the city (about 57,7%) are ethnically Roma. Geology and geomorphology. Geomorphologically, Pavlovce nad Uhom belongs to East Slovak Plain  and its subgroups of Kapušany Flatlands and Senné Wet Ground. Countryside of planes and flood plains consists of holocene clay and loamy sand sediments, the remains of old river arms. Geological structure consists of flood plain sediments, pleistocene aeolian sands and sand dunes. Climate. Area of Pavlovce nad Uhom is drained by river Uzh which originates in Ukrainian Uzh Pass and leads to river Laborec near municipality named Stretavka. Total catchment area of river Uzh is 2791 km, including 792 km on Slovak territory and its total length is 127 km, including 19,6 km on Slovak territory. Average flow is  32,9m³/s and maximum recorded is 1420m³/s. There is a lake near Pavlovce nad Uhom, called Ortov, connected with river Uzh via underground water system whose water level increases and decreases depending on the river flow. According to map from 1863, several meres, which were by locals called lakes, existed on the municipality's territory. The area is known to hold quality ground waters. East Slovak Lowland has got subcontinental climate with annual rainfall of 530 to 650mm and winters above 3 °C to −5 °C. Average annual temperature in Pavlovce nad Uhom is 9 °C. Defunct  architectural and historical monuments. Unfortunately, several buildings associated with life of local nobility do not exist anymore. Medieval church. Medieval church, known to exist in 13th century already, had unknown consecration. We know, from letters of George and Matthew of Pavlovce, that the church contained family tomb. Nowadays, the exact location of the church is not confirmed. Medieval mansion. Peter Túz or his sons established medieval family mansion in Pavlovce which later evolved into fortified manor-house mentioned as "castellorum Palocz". As far as we know, its remains are probably located in western part of local park. Baroque-classicist manor  house. Manor house was located in the center of municipality circa 100 meters south of church and 40 meters west of main road. Rectangle alike ground plan with dimensions of 40x50 meters with rhomboid alike ground plan towers in corners surrounded a courtyard with dimensions of 25x35 meters within. Locals say that the manor house's 4 wings and 4 towers symbolized 4 seasons, 12 chimneys 12 months, 53 rooms 53 weeks and 365 doors and windows 365 days in a year. The manor house was severely damaged after WWII and thus, in fifties, pulled down by locals afterwards. Many  photographs of the manor house still exist in private or state-owned archives. Garden pavilion. The pavilion was located in northern part of the park separating park from a garden. The building was built in Empire style with rectangle alike ground plan with dimensions of 40x14 meters. Farmstead in Ortov. This agricultural building, built in Classicist style, was situated south of floodplain forest near river arm Ortov. Central part of the building served as granary, side wings as sty and the rest for various agricultural purposes. Preserved architectural and historical monuments. The following monuments can be seen in the municipality . Roman Catholic Church of st. John the Baptist. The church was completed in the nineties of the 18th century. Wall paintings, including pictures of the church itself and Esztergom Basilica on each side of triumphal arch, come from 1843. Single-aisle body of the church is vaulted with two fields of Prussian vaults. Rotating stairs in southern part of the church lead to three-axis matroneum above, containing an organ. Communion-table, sanctuary and seats for celebrants are located in the northern part of the church. Room above sacristy holds seats, reserved in the past for patrons, nobles. There is  wooden Classicist altar from year 1800 with modern Statue of the Sacred Heart located in the right part of triumphal arch and preserved original Classicist pulpit with conic tribune and canopy on the left. The Statue of Immaculate Heart of Mary on the left and Statue of the Sacred Heart on the right decorate the facade of the yellow-white building. Church tower holds bell-fry and mechanism of functional tower clock. Riding hall. Neo-Classical building, among locals called "rajčuľňa", was probably built at the end of the 19th century. The Holy Shrine of John of Nepomuk. The Holy  Shrine of John of Nepomuk, built in 1899 in Neoclassical style, covers late Baroque statue of the saint from the second half of the 18th century originally located south of the park (according to historical map from 1863). Image of the sandstone statue follows an artwork made by John Brokoff being exposed on Charles bridge. Depicted clothing consists of surplice and biretta, pointing to John of Nepomuk's occupation as vicar and priest as well. The polychrome statue of the saint standing on pedestal holds a crucifix with corpus resting on the chest in his right hand. The left hand , left alongside the body, carries a palm twig. Defunct manor-house's park. The park, with an overall area of 19.89 ha, was established in the first half of the 19th century near defunct manor-house and is registered by The Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic as National Cultural Monument. The park's entrance is located at the center of the village. The park features two playgrounds, an amphitheater (serves as pub) with a stage and projecting masonry cab, Special Elementary School yard and dilapidated pub known as "Letná". A mound, among locals called "Hurka", is located in the  western part. The park is mostly flat except for the amphitheater's slope, the mound "Hurka" and excavation with adjacent embankment called "Filagróvia". The following plant species can be found here: oak, linden, maple, hornbeam, ash, sycamore, horse chestnut, hawthorn, hazel, privet, mulberry, elderberry, elm, willow and ivy. Greek Catholic Temple of the Holy Trinity of Ease. The sacral building dated to the early nineties of the 19th century, situated in the part Ťahyňa, is registered by The Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic as a National Cultural Monument. Jewish cemetery. The Jewish cemetery is located 1.5 kilometers south of  the municipality on a hill near floodplain forest surrounded by cultivated field. Most of the tombstones are made of sandstone. The cemetery is not maintained, is overgrown with trees and is not registered as a National Cultural Monument. In the past, Jewish Salem and Mikvah existed in the municipality, as well. Government. Pavlovce has its own birth register office and police force but relies on the district and tax offices at Michalovce Culture. The village has a small public library, a football pitch, and a gymnasium. Economy. The village has a number of food stores, a Slovak bank and an  insurance branch. Transport. The nearest railway station is 6 kilometres away.