Stupava, Slovakia

Stupava (Stampfen; Stomfa) is a town in western Slovakia. It is situated in the Malacky District, Bratislava Region.

Etymology
The name is derived from Proto-Slavic stǫpa (stupa) - a wooden bowl carved from a tree trunk, but also the name of various crushing and pressing tools.

Geography
The town is located in the Záhorie lowland, under the Little Carpathians, around 15 km north of Bratislava at an altitude of 182 metres. It has 15, 095 inhabitants as of 2021 and has a land area of 67.17 km2. Apart from the core part of the city, Mást (Maaßt, Mászt), located just south of the core part of the city, is another part of Stupava. It has been initially a separate village with ethnic Croatian majority, which was formally annexed by Stupava in 1953.

History
However, traces of habitation go back to the Bronze Age, and the first known inhabitants were the Celts. The Romans built a military station as a part of the near Limes Romanus on the Danube. The first written mention about the town was in 1269 in a document of the King Béla IV under name Ztumpa. In the second half of the 13th century the now-ruined Pajštún Castle in the Little Carpathians was built. It was developing mainly as an agricultural and trading settlement. The name of the town comes from the pressing mills called stupa on the Stupavský potok brook, which were used for extracting oil from flax and hemp.

Landmarks

 * Stupava Castle, originally built as a water castle, rebuilt in the 17th century to the Renaissance château, now serving as a retirement home
 * Roman Catholic church in Baroque style from the first half of the 17th century
 * Baroque-style Calvary chapel from the beginning of the 18th century

Demographics
According to the 2021 census, the town had 12 595 inhabitants. 96.7% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 1% Czechs and 0.5% Hungarians. The religious makeup was 70.4% Roman Catholics, 19.5% people with no religious affiliation and 2% Lutherans.

Twin towns — sister cities
Stupava is twinned with:


 * 🇨🇿 Ivančice, Czech Republic
 * 🇨🇿 Kuřim, Czech Republic
 * 🇵🇱 Łowicz, Poland
 * 🇭🇺 Nagykovácsi, Hungary
 * 🇧🇬 Svoge, Bulgaria