Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, an important market settlement arose here at the junction of two important roads – from Bohemia to Hungary and from the Mediterranean to Poland.

The first written reference to Trnava dates from 1211.^[6][7] In 1238^[8], Trnava was the first town in (present-day) Slovakia to be granted a town charter (civic privileges) by the king.^[9] The former agricultural center gradually became a center of manufacture, trade, and crafts. By the early 13th century, the king of Hungary had invited numerous Germans to settle in Trnava; this settlement increased after the Tatar invasion in 1242. At the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, a part of Trnava was enclosed by very long city walls. The original Slovak market settlement and the Germans stayed behind this wall.

Trnava was also the place of many important negotiations: Charles I, the king of Hungary, signed here a currency agreement with the Czech King John of Luxemburg in 1327, and King Louis I (who often stayed in the town and died there in 1382) signed a friendship agreement with Emperor Charles IV there in 1360.

16th-18th centuries

The town, along with the rest of the territory of present-day Slovakia, gained importance after the conquest of most of what is today Hungary by the Ottoman Empire in 1541, when Trnava became the see (1541–1820) of the Archbishopric of Esztergom (before 1541 and after 1820 the see was the town of Esztergom, which was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1543). The cathedrals of the archbishopric were the Saint John the Baptist Cathedral and the Saint Nicholas Cathedral in the town. Many ethnic Hungarians fleeing from the Turks moved to the town after 1541 from present-day Hungary, which remained under Ottoman rule until 1699.

In the 16th and especially the 17th century, Trnava was an important center of the Counter-Reformation in the Kingdom of Hungary (at the time largely identical with the territory of present-day Slovakia and a strip of western Hungary). The Archbishop Nicolas Oláh invited the Jesuits to Trnava in 1561 in order to develop the municipal school system. Subsequently, he had a seminary opened in 1566 and in 1577 Trnava's priest Nicolas Telegdi founded a book-printing house in the town. The first Catholic Bible translation into Hungarian (based on the Latin Vulgate) was also completed in the town by the Jesuit György Káldi who was born there in 1573. The 17th century was also characterized by many anti-Habsburg uprisings in the country – these revolts of Stephen Bocskay, Gabriel Bethlen, George I Rákóczi, and Imre Thököly negatively affected Trnava's life. On 26 December 1704 Francis II Rákóczi's army suffered a decisive defeat against the Imperial Army, led by Sigbert Heister, near Trnava.

The Jesuit Trnava University (1635–1777), the only university of the Kingdom of Hungary at that time, was founded by Archbishop Péter Pázmány.^[11] Founded to support the Counter-Reformation, Trnava University soon became a center of Slovak education and literature, since most of the teachers, one half of the students and the majority of the town's inhabitants were Slovaks. Pázmány himself was instrumental in promoting the usage of Slovak instead of Czech and had his work "Isteni igazságra vezető kalauz" (Guide to the Truth of God) and several of his sermons translated into Slovak.

From the late 18th century Trnava became a center of the literary and artistic Slovak National Revival.^{[12] [13]} The first standard codification of Slovak (by the priest Anton Bernolák in 1787) was based on the Slovak dialect used in the region of Trnava.

19th century to Great War

During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 Richard Guyon's army fought here with an Austrian army on 14 December, in 1848.

The importance of the town decreased in the early 19th century, when the university was moved to Buda (today: Eötvös Loránd University) and the see of the archbishopric moved back to Esztergom. It increased however partly again after 1844, when Trnava was connected with Bratislava through the first railway line in the Kingdom of Hungary, which was a horse railway (steam engines were used since 1872). The railway connection launched a modernization of the town, which started with the erection of a big sugar factory, a malt-house and of the Coburgh's factory (later referred to as Trnavské automobilové závody, i.e. "Trnava Car Factory"). The St. Adalbert Association (Spolok sv. Vojtecha), founded in 1870 when the Slovak foundation (Matica slovenská) was prohibited by the Hungarian authorities, kept up the Slovak national conscience at a time of strong Magyarisation in Hungary. In the 19th but mainly in the early 20th century the town grew behind its city walls and a part of the wall was demolished in the 19th century, but most of it is still well-preserved.

Jewish history

Jews arrived into the area in the 11th century.^[14] A presence in Trnava is documented from the 14th century.^[15] In 1494, 14 Jews were brought to death by burning following a blood libel.^[16] An 1503 account of the 1494 ritual murder trial introduces for the first time in history the notion that Jews as a collectivity were of feminine gender and had monthly bleedings, a libel which would become part of the repertoire of Christian antisemitism from then on.^[17] After another blood libel, the Jews were expelled from the city in 1539 and only in 1783 were Jews allowed to return to the city. Until World War II, Trnava was home to a sizable Jewish minority. During the Holocaust, 82% of the Jews were sent to extermination camps in 1942.

After 1918

After the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, Trnava was one of the most industrialized cities of the country. During World War II, Trnava was occupied on 1 April 1945 by troops of the Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front. In 1977, by a decision of Pope Paul VI, Trnava became the see of a separate Slovak archbishopric (although the seat moved to Bratislava in 2008, the city still remains a seat of its own archbishopric). With the establishment of this archbishopric, Slovakia became independent of Hungary again also in terms of church administration for the first time in centuries.

After the establishment of Slovakia (1993), Trnava became the capital of the newly created Trnava Region in 1996.

Climate

Trnava lies in the north temperate zone and has a continental climate with four distinct seasons. It is characterized by a significant variation between hot summers and cold winters.

Historic

The rise of Trnava is closely related to the "Latin Guests", newcomers speaking a Romance language, probably arriving from present-day Belgium (Walloons).^[15] In 1238, the expansion of the town was supported by the decree about a free movement to Trnava. In the Middle Ages, "German Guests" played a main role in the social composition of the town and they dominated also in trade and town administration.^[15] The decline of the German population and a permanent change of the ethnic composition dates back to the occupation of the town by the Hussite army (1432-1435).^[15] Nevertheless, the continuity of the original Slovak population was not interrupted and the Slovaks have intensively tried to achieve representation in the town council. Repeated conflicts between Germans and Slovaks were resolved in 1486 by the king Matthias Corvinus. In this time, the dominant language in the town was already Slovak.^[15] The medieval Hungarian population was represented only by several families, but more Hungarians settled in town after the Battle of Mohács of 1526 and the subsequent dissolution of the Hungarian kingdom which was split into three parts.^[15] The ethnic new tensions had to be again resolved by the king. The Hungarians were made equal to the Slovaks and the Germans by Ferdinand I, who also ordered parity representation of all three nationalities in the administration (4 April 1551). The estimated size of the population in the 16th century was 2,000-3,000 citizens. At the end of the Middle Ages, the town was inhabited by cca 5,000 people including those living in suburbs behind the city walls.^[15] A presence of the Jewish community is well documented from the 14th century.^[15]

Early Modern censuses

According to the 1857 census: 7,741 inhabitants^[20]

According to the 1910 census: 15,163 inhabitants, of which 7,525 men, 7,638 women^{[21] [22]}

According to the 1919 census: 15,599 inhabitants, of which 7,886 men, 7,713 women^[23]

Contemporary

According to the census from 2001, Trnava had 70,286 inhabitants, while according to the estimate from 2006, Trnava had 68,466 inhabitants with an average age of 37.3 years. In 2018, it had 65,207 inhabitants.

Nationality (2001 census):

• Slovaks (96.89%)
• Czechs (0.79%)
• Romas (0.27%)
• Hungarians (0.21%)

Age:^[24]

• Pre-productive Age: 9,947
• Productive Age: 46,742
• Post-productive Age: 11,603

Controversies

Renovated in 2010, the 19th-century Orthodox Synagogue which was falling into disrepair, was turned into a chic, modern cafe named Synagoga Cafe in 2016.

Critics view the business as an example of exploitative cultural appropriation in the wake of the Holocaust, where the former occupants were sent to concentration camps. Whereas, advocates argue that it reflects respect and nostalgia for Jews in addition to providing a vehicle for at least some preservation of the heritage site.^[27]

Cultural depictions

• In literature

Humanist scholar János Zsámboky dedicated to his birthplace latin language poem Tirnaviae patriae meae arma, published in his 1564's Emblemata.^{[28] [29]}

In his 1938's adventurous novel Trnava, ruža krvavá (Trnava The Bloody Rose) Slovak historical fiction author Jožo Nižnánsky depicted the atmosphere of Trnava in time of Rákóczi's War of Independence.^{[30] [31]}

• In cinema

Posledná bosorka (The Last Witch), a 1957 Slovak film's plot was is set in Trnava of the 18th century. ^{[32] [33] [34]}

Museums

• Galéria Jána Koniarka (Ján Koniarek Gallery)^[35]
• Západoslovenské Múzeum (West Slovak Museum/ Museum of western Slovakia)^{[36] [37]} is regional museum purposed on ethnography and history with national specialization on campanology, brickworking and invertebrates^[38], with its headquarters in former Clarist monastery.^[39]

Music

• Tirnavia choir

Others

• Kultúrne centrum Malý Berlín^[40] is an independent cultural center with gastronomic establishments, coworking and public space for events as theater and dance performances, concerts, film screenings, literary parties, conferences, discussions and educational events.^[41]

Industry

Having long industrial tradition back to early beginnings of 20th century^[51], Trnava has been known country-wide for mechanical engineering ever since. Although former socialism-era manufacturer Trnavské automobilové závody (Trnava automobile works) collapsed after Velvet Revolution, since 2003 Trnava has been noted for car-making again due newly built Stellantis Trnava Plant.

Stellantis Trnava Plant^[52] is a core industrial site in region and country as well, being third largest mechanical engineering company in Slovakia.^[53]

Important mechanical engineering plant at Trnava suburbs is subsidiary of ZF Friedrichshafen^[54] supplying systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and industrial technology.^[55]

Formerly division of ZF, Boge Rubber & Plastics Group plant in Trnava is producer of vibration control technology and lightweight components for the automotive industry.^[56]

Železničné opravovne a strojárne (ŽOS) Trnava (Railway repair shop and mechanic works) is industrial facility^[57] that performs repairs and inspections of freight cars, coaches and their subassemblies. It also manufactures new freight wagons, carries out repairs, modernisation and upgrading of rolling stock ^[58]

Trnava is also home for glass fiber producing plant. Being founded in 1966, it is nowadays subsidiary of Johns Manville.^[59] As of 2021 Trnava glass-fibres plant was largest company of Slovakia's glass industry.^[60]

Road

The city lies at the crossroads of two roads of international importance; from the Czech Republic to southern Slovakia and from Bratislava to northern Slovakia. The D1 motorway connects the city to Bratislava, Trenčín and Žilina and the R1 expressway connects it to Nitra. A part of a planned bypass is currently under construction.

Rail

The city also has an important station on the Bratislava–Žilina railway, with two tracks from Sereď and Kúty (near the Czech border) ending in the city.

Air

Although there is a small airstrip Letisko Boleráz to the north of the city, the closest international airports are in Bratislava and Vienna.

Local public transit

The city also operates a public transport service, currently with 16 lines.^[61]

Parks and open spaces

• Ružový park
• Janko Kráľ park
• Bernolákov sad
• Park of Belo IV
• Park pri Kalvárií
• Park SNP
• Univerzitný parčík
• Recreation zone Štrky
• Trnava ponds

Park of Belo IV	Recreation zone Štrky