Stará Turá or Stará Rurá is a town in the Trenčín Region in western Slovakia.

Geography

It is located in the Myjava Hills close to the Little Carpathians as well as the White Carpathians. It is situated 11 km from Nové Mesto nad Váhom to the west, 12 km from Myjava to the east and around 99 km from Bratislava to the north and has a population of 8,832 (2018) with an area of 50942 km².

History

The first written record about Stará Turá was in 1392, as a village belonging to the Čachtice Castle. It was part of it until feudalism ceased to exist in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary. In 1467, Matthias Corvinus promoted Stará Turá to the servile town (oppidum), boosting the town's economy. In 1848, the town was nearly destroyed by fire. It is mentioned in the popular folk song Teče Voda, Teče. Before the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, Stará Turá was part of Nyitra County within the Kingdom of Hungary. From 1939 to 1945, it was part of the Slovak Republic.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census, the town had 10,291 inhabitants. 97.4% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 1.7% Czechs and 0.2% Roma. The religious make-up was 45.5% Lutherans, 27.3% Roman Catholics and 23.6% people with no religious affiliation.

Education

Secondary Industrial School is located in the city.

Notable people

Twin towns – sister cities

Stará Turá is twinned with: