The history of Púchov

The first record of Púchov dates from 1243 when the king Belo IV issued a few deeds of donation. One of them mentions a man called Puch, an owner of a village with the same name. Its founding can be dated from about 1100 when Hungarians repeatedly destroyed the Púchov people´s fortress and their settlement by the Púchov Rock and the people moved to the lowland below the Púchov Rock. Archaelogists still consider the Púchov Rock the most settled prehistory and early history place. The „ Púchov culture „is a respected notion in archaelogy and represents settlement of the mountaineous parts of Slovakia in the era of five centuries in the turn of B.C. and A.D.

The notion of the Púchov culture has been based on archaelogical finds of baron Hoennig. This native of Hildesherm buried in Púchov succeeded in finding some remarkable finds in this locality. The only known picture of the Rock has been made by him, baron Hoennig. It depicts the archaelogical situation and mentions a folk tradition as well: it was said that the rock reminded of Maria Therese with her court counselor Václav Antonín Kounic.

The family of Marczibányi played a very important role in Púchov from the end of 15-th till the second half of 19-th centuries. In the first half of 17-th century Moravian brothers settled in Púchov and the town became famous by their cloth products. Thanks to the advantageous location the town of Púchov naturally was a trade centre of the region.

In 1649 the king Ferdinand accorded Púchov the right of organizing fairs. The tradition of fairs and markets was renewed in September 1999, in the year of 350-th anniversary of being accorded the fair right, organizing the First Púchov Fair.

Cloth trade, pottery, typography were the traditional trades which contributed to the town development. Moravská ulica street was a centre of weaving and in 1761 more than 68 weaving and clothing workrooms were there. The Púchov folk costume has typical blueprint elements. The workroom of Stanislav Trnka has been the only place of blueprint production in Slovakia nowadays and it is considered to be a small museum at the same time.

Župný dom is one of a few historical places of interest preserved in Púchov.The baroque building was built by Imrich Marczibányi in the end of 18-th century. It is a historical artistic evidence of historical development, way of life and society. Nowadays the building houses the Museum of Púchov Culture.

Building of the raiway in the second half of 19-th century brought improving of the local conditions, after crisis in the town development in 18-th century. The first manufactures were founded in the beginning of 20-th century – Syderolit and Syenit producing roof tiles, the first clothing factory in Slovakia Rolný (Makyta nowadays) and tyre production – Matador nowadays.

Púchov belonged to the Trenčín region called Trenčín župa in the times of Austria – Hungary monarchy. After Czechoslovakia was founded Púchov became a district town, belonging to the Žilina region. This took up to 1960 when the Púchov district was cancelled and the locality became a part of the Považská Bystrica district. Púchov has been a district town since 1996.