Svidník

Svidník (Felsővízköz, Oberswidnik, Свідник, Свидник) is a town in eastern Slovakia, the capital of the Svidník District in the Prešov Region. It has a population of around 11,000.

There is a monumental Soviet Army Memorial in the city, in memory of Battle of the Dukla Pass.

Geography
It is located in the Ondava Highlands, at the confluence of Ondava and Ladomírka rivers, located around 20 km from the Dukla Pass (Polish border) and around 55 km north-east of Prešov.

History
The town arose in 1944 by merger of two formerly independent municipalities of Nižný Svidník and Vyšný Svidník. The first written mention stems from 1355 as Scyuidnyk. Before the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, Nižný Svidník and Vyšný Svidník were part of Sáros County within the Kingdom of Hungary. From 1939 to 1945, they were part of the Slovak Republic. On 19 January 1945, the Red Army dislodged the Wehrmacht from Svidník in the course of the Western Carpathian offensive and it was once again part of Czechoslovakia.

Demographics
According to a 2001 census, the town had 12,428 inhabitants. 79.60% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 13.04% were Rusyns, 4.07% were Ukrainian, 1.50% were of Romani descent and 0.39% were Czechs. The religious make-up was 41.10% Greek Catholics, 25.82% Orthodox, 24.13% Roman Catholics, 5.17% people with no religious affiliation and 0.93% Lutherans.

Twin towns — sister cities
Svidník is twinned with:


 * 🇵🇱 Strzyżów, Poland
 * 🇵🇱 Świdnik, Poland
 * 🇵🇱 Jarosław, Poland
 * 🇵🇱 Sanok County, Poland
 * 🇨🇿 Chrudim, Czech Republic
 * 🇲🇰 Kriva Palanka, North Macedonia
 * 🇺🇦 Rakhiv, Ukraine
 * 🇷🇸 Vrbas, Serbia